Andy Goode’s ploy to ‘eliminate inconsistencies’ amid French TV debacle: ‘Rugby is so muddled’
Bath's Alfie Barbeary and an inset ex-England fly-half Andy Goode.
Ex-England fly-half Andy Goode has lobbied for a universal adoption of a TMO system after the controversies that clouded the Investec Champions Cup semi-final.
The well-travelled ex-playmaker stepped into the broadcasting world after hanging up his boots and was on commentary duty for the clash between Union Bordeaux Begles and Bath Rugby at the weekend.
During the match, Goode repeatedly slammed the lack of replays of potential high tackles on Bath’s Alfie Barbeary, with his criticism levelled at the home broadcaster’s director. With the clash taking place in Bordeaux, it was France TV that controlled the imagery that we saw at home and subsequently what the TMO had access to, according to Goode.
Champions Cup TMO controversy
While he aired his complaints during the match, he also took to social media to blast the French TV director and doubled down on his views on The Rugby Pod. Bath boss Johann van Graan echoed Goode’s complaints after his team’s defeat, highlighting three dangerous tackles on Barbeary.
Goode’s main criticism has been that the home director shouldn’t have the power to influence decisions by withholding full access to angles and replays from the fourth official.
This isn’t possible during Rugby World Cups, as independent broadcasters are hired, while TMOs have access to systems like Hawk-Eye that provide officials with full access and control over all angles and instant replays. An operator is also employed to assist the TMOs in speeding up the process.
However, more archaic systems are used in PREM Rugby and the Champions Cup, with TMOs provided with a live feed and one that has a 5-second delay. They also rely on the director to provide the footage.
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A uniform approach
Goode believes this is problematic for fans and the game as a whole, and has called for a universal system to be adopted globally, with all leagues and competitions following the same laws.
“One thing that you can do to eliminate the inconsistencies is across the top professional leagues – so the PREM, URC, Champions Cup, Super Rugby, and Top 14 – is have a uniform system,” he said on The Rugby Pod.
“In some leagues, like the URC have a bunker. You don’t have it in the Prem. The bunker is not in all of the competitions. In some competitions, you’ve therefore got the bunker, some have got Hawkeye, some haven’t.
“France are doing an orange card in their league for a 20-minute red and all this stuff. It’s all different. Why isn’t there one uniform system played across all the top leagues and tournaments, Six Nations, Rugby Championship, Nations Series that’s coming up? There needs to be a uniform control system that runs the game in that manner.
“And that’s the big frustrating thing for the fans when you’re dipping out of one competition into another, as we have in the northern hemisphere. You’re like, ‘S–t, what is it this week? Is it a bunker? Is it yellow? Is it red? Is it an orange? What is the system being used? Is it Hawkeye? Are the replays? No, they’re in.’
“It’s classic rugby for me, where we are so muddled in how the game is run and it just needs to be uniform across the world.”
The power and systems that the TMOs have over the footage that was used at the World Cup are deemed to be the gold standard, but understandably, it isn’t a viable option across the board due to the expense.
However, a video system like Hawk-Eye would give similar control and have less reliance on the TV director than what is currently being used in PREM Rugby and the Champions Cup.
Amid the criticism, France Television’s rugby editor Cedric Beaudou claimed that ‘The video referee is the master of what he wants to see, and nowadays he has access to every camera, every angle.’
READ MORE: French TV director hits back at Champions Cup criticism as Andy Goode doubles down
