Behind the scenes with a Television Match Official

This weekend we have another feast of rugby action which is bound to produce some tight matches and the occasional match changing decision. As we saw last weekend, the man blowing the whistle is in a highly scrutinised position and needs to be on top of his game at all times.

Luckily for him, the Television Match Official (TMO) was brought into the game a few years back. Many questioned it’s use, as they felt it would slow the game down and cause more harm than good.

These days though, it’s become an integral part of the game, with referees referring to it whenever there’s even the slightest bit of doubt involved in a decision.

Yes, at times the TMO can be overused by refs, but all in all it’s a brilliant option to have and you can be sure that the whole of Ireland is today wishing that it was used in football, one of the few remaining sports that still refuses to bring the available technology into the game.

This interesting video gives us a nice behind the scenes look at what it takes to be a television match official, and how the process takes place after the referee has called for the TMO to come into play.