Rugby Australia’s head coach of national match officials Mitch Chapman has defended the performances of referee Nic Berry and TMO Brett Cronan in Saturday’s Super Rugby Pacific quarter-final between the Brumbies and Hurricanes in Canberra.
The Brumbies clinched a 37-33 victory but the match ended in controversial circumstances when Hurricanes skipper Ardie Savea crossed the whitewash in the game’s dying moments.
His effort was disallowed, however, after Berry went up to the TMO for a decision and Cronan ruled that it was inconclusive whether a try had been scored.
Match officials criticised
On Monday, Hurricanes boss Jason Holland criticised the way the match officials handled the situation. He said he couldn’t understand why the TMO “had been brought into the game”, and that Berry, who said no-try as he believed Savea was held up over the line, should have asked Cronan for a try or no-try decision.
Holland felt Berry’s no-try announcement gave Cronan little leeway to contradict the on-field decision.
But Chapman believes Holland is wrong in his assessment of the situation. He defended Cronan, who he feels made the right call not to award Savea‘s try, and said Berry followed standard procedure when referring the decision to his TMO.
Chapman, a former Waratahs, Brumbies and Reds utility forward, is adamant the Australian officials made the right decision not to award a try to Savea.
“He [Berry] has got to make a live on-field decision – try or no-try,” he told Stuff. “Which he did. They can’t guess. If they don’t see the ball on the ground, they can’t guess.
“He saw it held up. He gave no-try, which was the correct decision under those circumstances. The TMO then reviewed it, and there was inconclusive evidence showing the ball hitting the ground.
“So he stuck with the on-field decision, which was no-try.”
Chapman added that there shouldn’t be confusion around what the TMO’s options are, and that all sides in the tournament are aware of the rules.
He also said even if Berry had asked Cronan whether it was a try or no-try, the latter option wouldn’t have been able to rule in the Hurricanes’ favour.
“Had he done that, the outcome would have been the same in that respect,” said Chapman. “So that doesn’t change anything.”
Speaking after the match, Savea was convinced that he scored a try and Holland said Super Rugby Pacific had “gone full circle” from trying to make the right decisions, to attempting to speed up the game: “And I think we’re in all sorts of trouble because we’re relying on a question for that decision which means the TMO is probably thinking ‘that’s probably a try, but I can’t award it because of the question’.”
No need for an apology
Chapman’s opinion differed to Holland’s and said match officials admitted to their errors in post-match reviews.
However, he believed they had nothing to apologise for after Saturday’s clash Canberra.
“On the way down, you see [Brumbies replacement forward] Luke Reimer with his arm underneath with the strapping tape on the wrist, as it’s going down. And, then, as he pops back up his hand is still underneath it,” he added.
“There’s no real clear footage of the ball hitting the ground. In our review process we were very supportive of the decision, and thought the boys handled the whole process well.”
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