Hurricanes coach Jason Holland has questioned the role of the Television Match Official (TMO) after his side's controversial Super Rugby Pacific playoffs exit.
The Hurricanes were denied a match-winning try against the Brumbies, after captain Ardie Savea was deemed to have been held up over the line deep into added time.
Savea was adamant he grounded the ball, but referee Nic Berry was unsure, and his on-field decision was 'no try', giving the TMO the tricky task of overturning his call.
Despite replays suggesting the ball had found the white line, the TMO decided there was insufficient evidence to overturn referee Berry's onfield decision.
Holland chalked up the controversial moment as yet another plaguing Super Rugby this season, and would like to see the role revamped.
"We completely understand that we could've won that game without relying on that, but the TMOs have been the main bugbear for me," he said.
"With referees, you win some, you lose some, and they get decisions right and wrong and I can accept that, but I keep thinking why have TMOs been brought into the game?
"In my head and to my understanding, TMOs were brought into the game so we get things right, especially in big situations at the end of the game.
"That was the driving force when we brought them in, and I just think we've created opportunities not to get it right.
"I think about Ardie scoring the try to win the game, I think about Dalton [Papali'i] getting that red card a few weeks ago against the Crusaders, and the same from the past - Tamaiti Williams drops a massive knock on, and we don't get that right.
"Those are massive moments in those games, and I really think we need to consider how we go about the TMO's involvement in the game.
"We've gone full circle. We've gone from trying to get it right, and now trying to speed the game up. I think we're in all sorts of trouble because we're relying on the question there for that decision, which means the TMO is probably thinking 'that's a try, but I can't award it because of the question.'
"I think there is a lot to ponder around the TMO involvement. Obviously, we've come out on the wrong side of it - Ardie scored the try, there's no doubt about that.
"But it's a good one for powers at be to figure out how we used TMOs, and is it about speeding the game up, or is it about getting it right?"
With rules being as they are, Holland suggests giving the TMO more leeway when called upon, instead of being handcuffed to the on-field decision.
He believes the efforts to speed up the game have hampered the decision-making, and are proving costly when it matters most.
"The obvious one is Nic Berry could've said 'try or no try'," Holland added. "They can do that, which would've been a totally different scenario. Why he didn't I'm not sure.
"But my main point is are we creating all these little outs to stop us from getting the outcome we're looking for from the TMO.
"We're looking to get the right decision from the TMO, and we're trying to speed the game up, but it's dependent on a question, or it's dependent on these little things.
"I find it difficult to understand a lot of the TMO stuff, we should be getting it right, that's why we got them.
"There's quite a few that they aren't getting right that are having massive effects on the game. That Blues-Crusaders game - that was a try in that situation and that was a big swing in that game."
