WATCH: Former All Blacks coach calls for TMO to be SACKED

Former All Blacks and 2015 Rugby World Cup-winning coach Steve Hansen has called for the TMO to be scrapped.

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According to the Stuff website, Hansen claimed that fans are being turned away in their droves by the game being refereed in “replay”.

SHOULD THE TMO BE SCRAPPED?

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Hansen blasted the rules of the game and the way they are being officiated after a stop-start Rugby World Cup final won by the Springboks 12-11 over the All Blacks.

But Hansen was quick to point out, when speaking on Sky Sport’s The Breakdown, that the referee in charge of the final, England’s Wayne Barnes, was not the problem.

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“Gone are the days when the referee has control of the game in rugby,” Hansen said.

“The problem is the way that we’re controlling the game, it’s being refereed in replay.”

Hansen felt even Barnes was getting frustrated himself with the stop-start nature of the final and said referees are no longer getting a fair crack and added that rugby can learn a lot from the way rugby league is using its bunker.

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“It’s time to sack the TMO, get rid of it out of our game, other than when the referee asks ‘is there any reason why I can’t award this try or is there any reason why I should award this try’,” Hansen told The Breakdown.

Hansen said the result of that was a stop-start game with no flow that fans were getting sick of.

“Fans are getting really sick of it and leaving in droves.”

“As a spectacle, I was extremely disappointed,” Hansen said of the Rugby World Cup final.

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Hansen was also disappointed about how the biggest talking point of the match, the sending off of All Blacks captain Same Cane in the 27th minute, was handled.

Cane was initially yellow carded for a high tackle on Springboks centre Jesse Kriel in the 27th minute, before it was later upgraded to red after an off-field review.

Hansen said he understands and appreciates that player safety is of massive concern but claimed rugby is a contact game and accidents will always happen.

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He argued Cane was caught out by a late shift and labelled the high tackle as unintentional contact.

“To give that a red card, in my humble opinion, is just ridiculous,” Hansen told The Breakdown.

“Until we sit down at the very top and work out how we can get some common sense into our officiating of the game, we’re going to turn people off watching it by the droves.”

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He also raised concerns around the inconsistencies that were created because of the way the TMO comes into the game.

“This is the other thing with the TMO,” Hansen said.

“He only comes in when something is missed but if the referee gets something wrong you don’t hear him coming in.”

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Hansen mentioned a turnover attempt by Ardie Savea that ended up being a penalty for South Africa as Barnes did not see a clear release of the tackler.

Hansen claimed replays showed there was, and Savea should have been awarded the penalty rather than conceding it, but the TMO does not intervene for such instances.

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