"The Aviva English Premiership will trial the use of a so-called ‘concussion bin’ and extended powers for the television match official in the forthcoming season, it was announced today. Players will be required to leave the field for five minutes to undergo cognitive tests if the team doctor or referee suspects they may have suffered concussion.
If that initial suspicion is confirmed in a pitch-side assessment, the concussed player will not be allowed to return and the temporary substitution will be made a permanent one. The Premiership have also volunteered to trial a greater use of video technology, which extends the TMO’s (Television Match Official) input to more than just the grounding of the ball.
In matches broadcast live on television this season, the referee can ask the TMO to rule on any incident in the lead-up to a try being scored, dating back to the last stoppage in play. The TMO will also have the power to alert the referee on matters of foul play he may have missed. The trials have been developed by the International Rugby Board."
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I am quite pleased to see this happen and i say bravo to the English for doing it, i hope the rest of us follow suit sooner rather than later.
I do however see a potential problem regarding the TMO.
Since its first inception we have been subjected to a lot of scared refs who never give a try without going upstairs to confirm. Sometimes its so clear cut and obvious that a try has been scored that its pathetic the ref didn't call it. Then you have the other extreme where really good refs like to make a judgement without going to the TMO and then you get the players ranting in his face, and the fans moaning about conspiracy theory.
We have all seen this happen and it annoys us right?
Well i can see some scared refs with players shouting in his face to ask the TMO about this or that or the other and while i accept that, it still has the potential for being rather massively time wasting!
That said im 100% in favor of trying it out and lets see where it goes.
Bravo England Rugby!
posted on 21/8/12
It's got to be a good thing in my opinion. The old argument of TMOs slowing the game down has been shown to be a non-issue and i expect expanding it's use will be the same.
The game is so fast nowadays that a few seconds to check some replays of key moments is totally worth it if it means the refs get the decisions right more frequently.
I'm surprised you're supporting this idea Ding seeing as half of Ireland's tries involve Heaslip obstructing a defender somewhere close to the line! . Just kidding mate!
Also having had a couple of concussions myself on the park during games I can vouch that the concussion bin is a good idea, there can be a seriously delayed reaction to head injuries for some people.
posted on 22/8/12
Hey sporty aka (smartarse)
If Heaslip is hurt by this new rule imagine what will happen to the ALL BLACKS! lol But hey..... no more Mike Philips scoring illegal tries against us :-P
Ye the concussion issue is a great idea.
But don't agree with you about the game being fast! Its a pain in the back side whenever there is a knock on these days. and the ref resets the scrum 6 times. Its very time consuming and it annoys people.
But mainly my point is about refs who have no balls and go to the TMO all the freakin time. There are a lot more refs who "over use" the TMO than not. And when you get a ref like alan roland for example who uses the TMO much less than other refs, then you get conspiracy theorists. This is set to be hotly debated.
posted on 22/8/12
I was having a blinder in this game once at open-side, when just before half-time I was on the ground (momentarily) having made a (brilliant) tackle. Wheraupon an opposition player decided that it would help his team's cause by stamping on my neck. I spent the rest of the game not being able to work out which way we were attacking
posted on 22/8/12
Hah Ding all true mate
Being a front rower I'm biased so for me the more scrums the merrier! I do appreciate that general consensus is that there are too many resets for most people though!
Still, like you I'm looking forward to seeing these rules implemented, it will be a mark of a good ref when he passes up the TMO option to correctly back himself.
JPB - I managed to get a tennis ball sized lump on my forehead and 2 black eyes two days before a job interview....didn't get it!
posted on 22/8/12
posted on 26/8/12
On reset scrums if they forced the scrum half to put it in straight and stopped the "impact" of the engage it would be fine.
I played for nearly 20 years as a tighthead and only very rarely did the scrum collapse - they brought this new rule in and 1 season later I have 3 burst discs in my spine from the compression in the scrum.
Oh and I once got 12 stitches across one eyebrow and over to the ear the day before I started a new job folk wondered what theyd employed
posted on 26/8/12
Will the concussion bin apply to the front rows who always seem to get 'injured' when a team needs to regroup?
That will be the test.
posted on 27/8/12
If it does we'll just start "discovering" one of our laces is untied instead!