The 2023 Rugby World Cup final was brutal and hard-fought, but for the neutral, it was hardly a classic. On a wet night in Paris, South Africa won a final that was littered with handling errors, frantic decisions and individual errors. The decisions made by Wayne Barnes, TMO Tom Foley and the rest of the officiating team - especially in the first half - ultimately decided the game.
The decisions to yellow card Shannon Frizell and red card All Blacks captain Sam Cane have infuriated Kiwis. It's unfortunate that debate over refereeing decisions should dominate the sport's marquee event but it perhaps it's also inevitable, given the huge stakes and the impossibility of a human being giving a perfect verdict of an 80 minute game of rugby.
TMO Tom Foley played a major actor in the 2023 Rugby World Cup final, though he was above the pitch. Barnes did not penalise Frizell or Kane in the moment, and then Barnes called on the bunker to make the ultimate call on three potential red cards. The All Blacks also had a second half try by Aaron Smith ruled out for a knock-on a number of phases back at the lineout.
Spare a thought however for a GAA referee watching this game unfold. Whereas Barnes could call on a TMO and the video team in the bunker to assist with every huge decision, a GAA ref is operating from a position of relative blindness.
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GAA ref David Gough weighs in on World Cup final refereeing decisions
It was interesting to see David Gough - who is the best gaelic football ref in the business - weigh in over Twitter on Barnes's first half performance.
I'm watching the RWC tonight and feel for our GAA refs by comparison. Two non decision made on the field of play, reviewed on screen (two yellows resulted), and yet a semi decision has resulted with the referee abdicating responsibility as the sole referee appointed for the match, allowing the TMO to make the difficult decision for him (having seen it live and then on screen/replay) saving him for making the red card decision himself.
Refereeing is not an easy job, less much so in the GAA. Tonight's first half performance in the #RWC final by a professional referee should remind us all how truly difficult it is to always be in the best position to make the correct decision....... pic.twitter.com/DjLMs6TOR4
— David Gough (@goughd4) October 28, 2023
This isn't a personal attack on Barnes for leaning on the bunker system but rather a commentary on the power of the TMO, especially in this final. And while the system worked, by and large, rugby is unique in the power that it grants the TMO to insert himself or herself into the game. Having a second pair of eyes watching every angle from above must surely impact how a ref on the field makes decisions.
Few outside New Zealand would quibble with the yellow for Frizell or the red for Cane. Similarly, the bunker seemed to fairly adjudge a high tackle from Siya Kolisi as a yellow after bunker review.
But what a luxury a TMO must be for a rugby ref; an amateur GAA ref is out there on his/her own relying on instinct and clear thinking. Bar the linesmen and the officials, a ref in a game of gaelic football or hurling match must cover more ground and rule two sports more prone to chaos.
Just imagine how an incident like the James McCarthy tackle on Graham O'Sullivan in the 2023 All-Ireland final might have been adjudged had Gough access to a VAR assistant and slo-mo replay on the Croke Park big screen.
And yet maybe an occasion like tonight's World Cup final is also a chance to appreciate the unwieldy spectacle of an All-Ireland final - which is imperfectly refereed in a very different way.
Football and rugby have both proven that video assisted reply is not necessarily the cure all many had expected. We should have a greater appreciation for the impossible and thankless work that referees do, in rugby and especially in GAA.
