England coach Eddie Jones has said officiating delays and the high number of cards are a blight on rugby and called for change before next year’s World Cup.
The increased use of the Television Match Official (TMO) to spot infringements as well as a lower threshold for yellow and red cards as World Rugby tries to improve safety have led to a greater number of delays in games.
“We’ve gone too [far] playing it like it’s a tennis game and every decision’s got to be right,” he told reporters on Thursday.
“Rugby when it’s played at its best, and when we have the laws at the right level, we get that natural flow and rhythm in the game and we don’t have it at the moment.
“Every time we get a flow in the game there’s a stoppage and we go back to see if someone’s taken out someone — well the referee couldn’t see it, so it can’t be too bad. If it’s a blatant red card offence then we need to go back to it.”
The Australian coach said he did not blame the referees.
“We’ve got to keep the game safe, don’t get me wrong, but accidental head contact and this incessant use of TMO, we’ve got to cut out,” he said.
“Lineouts can be tided up, scrums can be tidied up, and as long as the referees get the mandate to do it, they’ll do it.”
Jones cited last week’s All Blacks test against Ireland, where confusion reigned after two yellow and one red card were shown to New Zealand players in a short space of time.
“I’m certainly going to be pushing for [change] because I’ve had enough,” Jones said.
“I don’t want to see a game like that ever again, where we don’t even know how many people are supposed to be on the field.
“Imagine in the World Cup, you’re playing a quarterfinal, you get a red card, two yellows and you’re down to 12 men, it’s just ridiculous.”
Jones said he was not alone in his thoughts and hoped there would be an opportunity during the November Test window to discuss the issues.
“We need to get the referees, the coaches and the players together and say ‘this is the game we want, this is the game people want to see,’ and try to put together a forthright case as to the proper officiating of the game,” he added.