Whose idea was it? : Sun Aug 12, 2012 12:43 pm
Who decided that you can't go to the video ref for a forward pass. We all know which are the 100% forward passes when we are watching a game on TV so why can't the video ref make a decision? If he isn't sure, then the try should stand, just like it does with a knock-on.To me it's the emperor's new clothes. One person (in Australia) must have decided that this must be an exception in the video ref aspect of the game. Some fool in England agrees with this and the rest follow.
Also, this 'look at the hands of the passer' is also badly flawed. If he is running at an angle then the hands won't matter. Only if he is running on a line parallel with the touchline would the position of the hands count.
I just have to look at a pass to know it's forward. If it's borderline, then play on but too many blatant ones are missed.
How did we know that rugby union was littered with forward passes? Did we go to games? Did we heck. We watched them on television...and yet our video refs can't watch them on screen. The big taboo.