Slow motion from all angles, for long minutes, before the decision falls: these video arbitration scenes have been part of Top 14 folklore since 2006. But the epic LOU – UBB (25-32) on Sunday evening, in the jump-off, was played “in the old fashioned way”. The strong thunderstorms over the Lyon region during the day caused what the broadcaster Canal+ described as “technical problems”.
The OB van being in the road, it was therefore decided to place an additional referee in each in-goal in the event of a dispute. And, of course, there were, on at least four of the seven tries of the meeting (four on the Bordeaux side, three on the Lyon side). Including the Girondin achievements signed Jalibert, Diaby and the second of Tambwe (author of a double), who sent his team to the semi-finals in San Sebastian (Spain), where they will meet La Rochelle on Saturday.
“There is a lot of disappointment, sadness, frustration, even resentment, to be honest, said Lyon president Yann Roubert after the meeting. We have the best championship in the world, the best equipped, the one that attracts people in front of the TV. Obviously, many saw that some tests deserved to be reviewed. The only one who didn’t have access to it was the referee, and that’s a shame. »
The NRL has decided
In fact, Canal+ indicated that the video could have been used in the second period, its device having been repaired. But the National Rugby League (LNR) preferred to keep the same system as in the first period, with in-goal referees, in the event of a new concern and in order to respect consistency within the same meeting. A cruel “experiment” for the Rhodaniens, but which made it possible to remember that rugby, addicted to technology and which brews more and more money, no longer tolerated the slightest human error.