[NPC - BOP v Tasman] Bay upset again by TMO
This wasn’t a pretty game. There were a lot of very basic ball-handling errors on a clear, dry evening in Tauranga.
The referee, Nathan Pearce, was from Australia and had a large panel of assessor-types watching him from the sideline.
He had some interesting interpretations at the breakdown, seemingly favouring the team in possession over that trying to steal it. There appeared to be moments when the defender was in correct position where other NPC referees would tend to award him the penalty for the tackled player not releasing the ball but Pearce tended to go the other way.
Bay of Plenty were penalised heavily in the exchanges and at one point had 2 men in the sin bin but the Australian was consistent even though he dished out a lot of penalties.
Also, Kudos to him for not sending off Bay of Plenty captain Colin Bourke for punching after a scuffle with Tasman lock Joe Wheeler.
Three in the bin
The only real downside was the disallowing of a significant try. Bay of Plenty would have gotten a bonus point from the game had the try been allowed and it certainly looked legitimate.
There have been numerous occasions where referees have gotten this wrong this season.
The NZRFU has conveniently decided to do away with video referees to save a buck (apparently $20,000 or so). Apparently that money isn’t going to a lineout coach for the All Blacks so where is it going that’s so important for the game of rugby in new Zealand?
They are dumping 4 teams from the NPC premier division at the end of the season. These tries could prove significant in terms of who finishes in the bottom four spots.
The NZRFU have an answer to that: ‘It won’t necessarily be the teams who place in the bottom four this season’.
Their get out of jail free card is that in being impartial (and making sure none of the major unions go down) they have a multi-pronged criteria and are applying it – retrospectively – over the last 4 years. Wouldn’t want Auckland, Waikato or Otago to miss out.
On the other side of the ‘no video referees’ decision is the potential earnings loss (and fans disappointment) for a team who would have otherwise earned a home semi-final (and/or) final due to mistakes or unsighted-ness on the field – not really good enough in a slomo-replay, wireless broadband, real time everything, sky digital world!
