New TMO 'sweeper' system aiming to speed up rugby

Ireland's tour of New Zealand will be one of the first rugby series to trial a new television match official 'sweeper’ system aimed at speeding up the game.

Andy Farrell’s side begin their Aotearoa trip with a match against the Maori All Blacks on 29 June before their first of three Tests against New Zealand on Saturday 2 July.

World Rugby today announced that from 1 July all matches will adopt ‘on the run’ decision-making, which will allow the TMO to make informal contributions without the need to stop play.

Under the new trial, the TMO can alert the referee that a player was in touch, whether there was a knock on or forward pass, and in relation to an incident of dangerous play where it can be immediately determined to be ‘play on’ or ‘penalty only’, the off-field match official can also interject.

Currently the referee will call ‘time off’ and consult with the TMO, a process that can last for about two minutes.

The sport’s governing body has also amended the law with regard to TMO intervention following a try.

If new broadcaster footage relating to the try becomes available after the conversion but before the restart, then it can be referred to the on-field official.

In addition, all offside laws, as opposed to a limited number of offside infringements, can be checked in the two phases leading up to the scoring of a try.

"Our mission is to help the sport to be all it can be in terms of safety and spectacle, and this TMO revision supports that mission," said World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont.

"Not only will this update help the elite game better identify and deal with any foul play, it will assist in the clear and obvious being addressed without stopping the game, potentially reducing the number of unnecessary and often