SANZAR CEO Greg Peters has acknowledged that talk between Super Rugby referees and television match officials "needs to be 'tightened up' but insists nothing can be done" until after the World Cup in October, according to Wayne Smith of THE AUSTRALIAN. Overlaying the already "deep and near-universal dissatisfaction" with the standard of refereeing in Super Rugby is a growing concern that television match officials are "starting to intrude too much and, far from clarifying decisions for referees, are actually confusing them." Super Rugby side Queensland Reds coach Richard Graham said that a "strict discipline needs to be imposed on conversations between the on-field referee and the TMO in the stands." Graham: "Questions need to be along the lines of: Was there a knock-on, yes or no? At the moment there is way too much waffle." Peters said that he personally felt communication between referees and TMOs "needed to be examined." Peters: "Certainly there is some merit in tightening the conversations. There is a protocol that will be reviewed after the World Cup" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 4/14).
