How the TMO made the final All Blacks-Springboks test last 105 minutes
The Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Tour ended with its longest match, as this morning’ test took 105 minutes to complete thanks to multiple refereeing interventions and communication issues.
This was the only match of the tour to break the 100-minute mark, although the third test fell just short at 98 minutes, in part due to lengthy stoppages forced by a lack of communication and Television match official (TMO) interventions.
An eight-minute 53-second stoppage in the first half came from referee Karl Dickson losing communication with the TMO.
Eventually, the players agreed to play on without the referee having the eye in the sky instruct him of any decisions he might have missed.
“So, the word is that both teams have agreed to play on,” Sky Sport commentator Jeff McTainsh said.
“If there is a TMO decision that is relevant, there will be a phone call made down to an official on the side of the field who will then give the information to the AR [assistant referee] that will then alert Karl Dickson that something needs to be looked at.
Multiple stoppages in Baltimore made this game the longest of the tour. Photo / Photosport
“So that’s how the game’s going to proceed from now until they fix the comms.”
Once the comms were back up, the TMO was ready to intervene particularly in the second half.
England’s Matthew Jackson was asked to check a potential tackle off the ball on Cam Roigard about the 56th minute, but took his time to check further back on what was eventually given as an offside in the ruck preceding that play.
Injuries and substitutions added to the stoppages as they usually did, but Dickson refused to stop the clock when Pieter Steph du Toit attempted to receive treatment on the halfway line after the All Blacks’ third try of the match.
It was TMO intervention again, though, that caused another stoppage soon after when Jordie Barrett and Manie Libbok clashed heads in the middle of the park.
Communication issues stopped the game for nine minutes in the first half. Photo / Smartframe
Despite being asked to look at this, the TMO continued to show replays of the passage of play which followed.
The final TMO intervention came after Kurt-Lee Arendse’s try, when plenty of time was taken to check if Josh Moorby was tackled before he knocked the ball on and the Springbok winner scooped the ball up to score.
After several checks of multiple angles, the referees decided no foul play had occurred and the try would stand.
The final 10 minutes continued without a major stoppage and both teams scoring a try each, finishing with the Springboks taking a 43-28 win.
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