Nigel Owens believes technology is being overused in rugby and football, and a stricter approach to when its used would be beneficial to players and fans.
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Owens stated in his column for Wales Online: “Technology certainly has its part to play in modern sport. Look at tennis, which has got it spot on. The challenges are very factual, the ball is either in or out and there are no ifs or buts over these important decisions, and I think technology has helped tennis in that way. The same goes for cricket, they’ve been able to use technology in the right way and they have seen the advantages.
“The problem with both football and rugby is that the technology is being overused. Unlike tennis and cricket, it’s not being used in a factual way, and the way the game is played and the current laws also contribute to that.”
He added: “If you look at rugby, the TMO protocol used to be pretty clear and strict,”
“It was to be used only in the act of scoring. You couldn’t use technology to go back five, 10 or even 50 metres, if not more sometimes, to see if somebody was onside or not.
“You couldn’t do that back then and as a result you didn’t have the amount of controversy we’re having today.
“Once you open up technology to all areas of the field, it’s just going to be inconsistent and bring controversy because whether we like it or not, in football and in rugby, a lot of it is down to the referee’s interpretation, their experience and their ability to make a judgement call.
“You just need to let the referees go out and do that. That’s the way to ensure you have your best officials refereeing games, as at the moment you have some refereeing at a level they probably wouldn’t be able to work at if they didn’t have the technology to make four or five decisions for them in the game.”
Joe Marler’s rugby sh**list includes former England teammate
England prop Joe Marler is never afraid of sharing an opinion or two – especially when it’s about someone he doesn’t particularly like.
#1. Sir Clive Woodward
Woodward tore apart Eddie Jones’ side during a webinar, slamming Marler and fellow prop Dan Cole for their behaviour in a press conference prior to the loss against South Africa back in November. This wasn’t the first time the 2003 World Cup-winning coach called out the prop.
After reading an article on the Rugby Pass website highlighting Woodward’s comments, he tweeted him directly, saying: “Change the record Sir Clive – you should be grateful you can ‘milk the cow’ for another 3 years.”