Nick Mallett seeks cricket-style DRS in rugby

Mallet wrote: Nick Mallett has criticised the International Rugby Board (IRB) for what he believes is a failure to eradicate poor decision-making by referees, and he says on-field captains should have a right of appeal.

In the wake of the furore over the sin-binning of South Africa hooker Bismarck du Plessis for his tackle on Dan Carter in The Rugby Championship Test against New Zealand in Auckland, Mallett said the IRB admission that referee Romain Poite got it wrong was too late.

Du Plessis' red card has been rescinded, but Mallett said it was too late as the damage had been done, Poite's decision having possibly changed the outcome of the game and the tournament.

"Poite will be sanctioned by the referees' association, but the Springboks don't get the opportunity to replay the game," Mallett said on South Africa's BallzRadio. "The result stands. It was an unfair contest from the moment Bismarck was sent off after half-time. That decision guaranteed that the Springboks would lose the game. It almost certainly guaranteed that the All Blacks would get a bonus point."

As a demonstration of the frustration with the refereeing system of the moment, Mallett cited the Springboks' Test against Argentina in Mendoza, where captain Jean de Villiers complained about biting and eye-gouging to the referee Steve Walsh. The official said he would refer the incident to the citing commissioner, but Mallett said that wasn't enough.