The Rugby Football Union will investigate the controversial TV match officiating incident during Saturday's Harlequins v Saracens match.
During the Premiership clash, TMO Stuart Tarhege appeared to refuse to consider a clear case of foul play against Sarries captain Owen Farrell.
Tahige said he did not want to appear influenced by co-commentator Austin Healy when the latter brought up criticism of Farrell.
what was said
I heard him say this TNT Sports” Interview: “The problem I have now is that it seems like Austin instigated it. We're late, so I don't want to talk about it, okay?”
Okay, I found the video. You hear an exchange that clearly wasn't meant for the other person to hear. @rugbyontnt viewers. pic.twitter.com/R2g4aoYsnJ
— Tom Finn Kelcey (@TFinnKelcey) March 23, 2024
Later, when the incident was aired, Terhige was quoted as saying, “Oh, hey, don't show it, that's…” before being cut off or realizing his comments were being broadcast. It looked like.
Progressive Rugby has since condemned the TMO's actions as a “dereliction of duty”.
Professor John Fairclough, from the player welfare group, said: “Whatever the reason, it is clear that the decision was taken to ignore foul play, reckless and dangerous play out of concern for what had been raised by the pundits.” Ta.
“This is extremely worrying and a clear failure of the match officials' duty to ensure the safety of the players. An explanation should be sought immediately.”
Clear foul play against Owen Farrell was deliberately ignored and 'ego got in the way of TMO'
investigation
The RFU, which oversees all match officials, later confirmed that an investigation would be carried out into the Saracens-Harlequins clash as part of a general review.
“The RFU regularly carries out reviews after every match that takes place, as was the case with Saracens vs Harlequins,” an RFU spokesperson said.
Premiership Rugby also released a statement, adding: “Premiership Rugby considers all incidents and follows the same process each week.”
The alarming incident has sparked debate online, with many questioning why the video referee had access to the commentary feed.
It is understood that while the TMO will be able to hear the commentators during matches, the feed will be cut off when reviewing incidents to avoid cases where commentary influences decisions.
Harlequins' Joe Marler weighed in and said it would have affected the team if the offense had been reviewed, calling it “ridiculous” on X (formerly Twitter).
Ridiculous 🤯 https://t.co/rhG0tnwY9e
— Joe Marler (@JoeMarler) March 23, 2024
Co-commentator Healy responded to the controversy on social media after the match, criticizing the TV match officials.
“I think the TMO has seen better days, but egos seem to be getting in the way of adjudicating foul play,” he wrote.
read more: Lobby group accuses TMO of dereliction of duty after Owen Farrell's 'reckless' play ignored
