It’s hard to overstate what a gift it was to be at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium shortly after 5.30pm on Saturday evening, as the Irish rugby union team came to life and drove relentlessly for a Sixes championship title Nations that were at stake.
There was the masterful Bundee Aki in full swing, the first glorious rendition of the Fields of Athenry, the descending sun casting the place in an eerie light. And then the referee, Matthew Carley, calmly and confidently scored two Irish tries in quick succession, without the slightest impact on the momentum of the game or the experience of those gathered inside that bouncy venue.
These decisions were devilishly complex, with Ireland’s Tadhg Furlong and Robbie Henshaw buried in a forest of players as each tried to touch the ball. Yet there was a speed and transparency in decision-making that told you that rugby is a sport that respects those who have paid to be there. Conversations between Carley and the scoring cameramen were broadcast throughout the stadium, as they have been for more than 20 years under the sport’s TMO system. The decision-making actually belonged to the spectators present at that location.
How abrupt the return to footballing reality was, the next day, as the VAR, obtuse and deafening, mocked in the faces of everyone who had paid to watch West Ham play Aston Villa.
Did this really happen? Did it really take five minutes and 37 seconds to decide whether Tomas Soucek had handled the ball before scoring what would have been West Ham’s winning goal? Yes, of course – although the fact that a VAR delay of record magnitude has barely entered the national conversation shows how sanitized we have become towards this whole abandoned system.
Officials had some tough decisions to make in Ireland’s win over Scotland, but the speed and transparency showed that rugby is a sport that cares about its fans.
On the other hand, the decision to cancel Tomas Soucek’s goal took VAR officials five minutes and 37 seconds.
PMGOL must explain to the Premier League the reason for the long delay
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The upper echelons of our football are overseen by people who would laugh in your face if you suggested that rugby could actually offer them lessons. But two hours after West Ham fans had their afternoon ruined, we still don’t know why the decision took so long.
On Tuesday, Premier League headquarters were told that the delay at the London Stadium would be discussed with PGMOL “during their next operational matters conversation”. If you really wanted proof that the league is too busy selling “the product” to broadcasters to care about the kid in row S or the family of lifelong fans in row B, then here you go.
Many have shared this pain. My friend was in Gwladys Street in Goodison with his father when Everton’s injury-time equalizer came against Spurs recently. “Can’t get completely lost in the moment due to VAR control,” he messaged. Well, the solutions are simple for anyone who longs for something better.
Broadcast the discussions of the referee and his video assistants, so that fans are not left in the dark. Impose a three-minute limit on all VAR decisions. (Because what cannot be decided at that time is not a “clear and obvious” error.) Introduce a ten-second countdown to cutoff on the stadium screen, so that the deliberations are truly part of the drama.
Football has other considerations, such as the proposal for an independent football regulator, at the heart of the Football Governance Bill presented to Parliament on Tuesday, with politicians scrambling for publicity. “We are determined to put supporters back at the heart of the game,” said Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer. Try telling that to those who explained this delay to their children.
There is no need for a regulator to put fans attending matches “at the heart of the game”. Common respect would ensure that scandalous delays in “VAR control” are a thing of the past. Let the lazy complacency of the faceless IFAB legislators, who we are told “let’s not allow” live VAR audio to be broadcast, is vigorously contested.
Broadcast discussions between the referee and his video assistants, so fans aren’t left in the dark
This weekend, rugby made football look ridiculously old-fashioned.
Common respect would ensure that those same supporters who attend matches are informed of kick-off times sufficiently in advance to allow them to book their travel. The Football Supporters Association said last week it was still looking for kick-off times for Premier League matches, which take place in just a month’s time. What a disgrace.
When admitting last month that VAR decision-making was taking longer this season – yes, that system is in fact regressing – Premier League head of football Tony Scholes observed that ” we are on a journey” towards video and audio broadcasting. as a decision is made. And how far away was this destination? He did not know it.
After a weekend during which rugby union left football once again antediluvian, vagueness and gray uncertainties are not enough. We love football because of its pace, its unpredictability, its ebbs and flows, its ability to provoke extremes of joy and despair – and much of that is squashed. The message is clear, urgent and was felt most keenly by those who poured out of the London Stadium shaking their heads three days ago. “Give us back our game.”
Ireland shows Wales all is not lost
It was hard not to cry for Wales as he stood in the concourse of Dublin’s Aviva Stadium, watching their defenestration against Italy on Saturday. It took me back to a trip a few years ago to Pontypridd, which sent out some of the best talent the Wales national team has ever seen: Sonny Parker, Martyn Williams, Neil Jenkins. There was such melancholy in this place and its rugby mecca, which had passed into the professional era.
Wales’ Six Nations campaign ended in misery – but all is not lost despite an existential crisis
All is not lost, despite this existential crisis. It was under the shock of defeat – a 60-0 humiliation against the All Blacks in Hamilton, 12 years ago – that Ireland decided to create the infrastructure that captures the best talent on its island and channels it towards a system in which the national team counts above all. all. Ireland has not looked back. Neither does Wales.
Bad vision before the next Ashes…
Watching cricket through English and Australian prisms with my four-year-old granddaughter has sparked concerns about the Ashes series Down Under, eight months away.
From an English perspective, an episode of Clangers opening with the characters Tiny and Small enjoying the sport sees them quickly lose interest and take up their spacehoppers instead. Small sails fly into space. From the Australian perspective, there’s Bluey’s new episode called “Cricket,” in which Bluey’s friend Rusty takes on the dads at cricket. “Are you okay with a little swing, Rusty?” Bandit, Bluey’s father, asks Rusty. Oh yes, Rusty is all for a little swing. A troubling form of competitiveness and proof of the depth of Australian cricket culture, but a gem nonetheless. It’s definitely worth the detour.