Match snippets- Owens use of the TMO and Barrett as a super sub

As well as having a commanding display of refereeing today Ref Nigel owens illustrated how the TMO option can and should be used. When Nonu appeared to ground for the potentially championship winning 4th try Owens asked the TMO to check the grounding. Instead of waiting for the decision Owens instead voiced his own opinion and gave the TMO an option to have a different opinion- which he didnt. He said Let me tell you what I think happened here and see if you disagree, The player initially grounded short then after several movements grounded the ball so Im going to go with the penalty back unless you see it differently.

By doing this two things happened here- the asking of the TMO to check also gave Owens a chance to see the replay for himself. By offering the ruling rather than waiting for it from the TMO allowed Owens to retain control of the decision making process rather than handing it over unnecessarily- communicating to all who has control of this match, giving them confidence that things are under control in that area. Good to see and worth highlighting specific positive refereeing instances where so many these days are always so negative. That man deserves a gold watch- frequently given at this ground I hear.

For me Beauden Barrett is one of the most useful subs I have ever seen in rugby. They say subs are there to provide impact and I'm convinced that Barrett has a single mindset of scoring a try himself as soon as he gets the ball, because almost every time he subs, he does- usually with the first or second touch of the ball. For me its a great goal to have because there is no greater impact a sub can have than score a try immediately. Youre there to do as much damage as possible in a short time and when he first got the ball he set off for the line despite it being not the most ideall position to score from. I think its that single, unmoving mindset on sc oring himself that always gets him there. Its not about greed, or just fitting in with the gameplan-its about pure impact, and I think hes worked that out perfectly. His run down of Le Roux was the icing on the cake. Deceptively talented player and decision maker.

With regards to Owens, his use of the TMO in general was brilliant. Didn't duck out of making calls himself either, but helped his TMO out a lot with his decisions too.

I've seen people mention he was blowing a bit (but not criticising, I don't think), but it's a phenomenal effort to run around like that with such a pace, particularly when in theory he's zig zagging constantly keeping up with each breakdown.

The guy did a tremendous job. He stayed in control of the match, didn't shirk the tough calls, was consistent and most important empathetic to the spirit of the game. In particularly liked the handling of the second(?) springbok try which looked to contain a marginal forward pass. A tmo would in all likelihood called I forward but Owens interjected on the live replay to allow it as "flat" and driven by momentum. 

Referees should all be forced to watch this performance repeatedly. I'm not sure he got a single call wrong. 

The contrast with Wayne Barnes' shocker later last night was like chalk and cheese.

...surprising that...Barnes with a shocker? nooo...

Very refreshing to read a thread applauding a ref's game. I agree, Nige did have a good game. This should be the benchmark for International rugby. Refereeing that matches the level of play on both sides of the pitch.

I think Owens calmness and allowances to the players given the moment was the best thing... He wasn't  trigger happy like we have seen poite, Joubert and Walsh do on numerous occasions this season.

Refs have to understand their job is to a) control the game and b) to give the public a fair match which is enjoyable for all. Often they just try and make themselves to be the boss... An inferiority complex most have for being failed players... Something Owens doesn't have.

Taylorman wrote:...surprising that...Barnes with a shocker? nooo...

I know, I was shocked and could hardly believe my eyes.

What about the incident when Messam was marching off for the yellow. Was the clock stopped and, therefore, were SA entitled to take a quick tap, which led to the JDV try?

Just curious whether time was still running or whether it had been called off. A similar incident happened in a game a while back and I'm not sure whether the game has to be called back on.