US Edition
An incident involving the Television Match Official appearing to not review potential foul play because it had been highlighted on TV commentary will be investigated by the Rugby Football Union.
During Saracens’ win over Harlequins TMO Stuart Terheege was caught on a hot mic during the TNT Sports broadcast discussing with referee Christophe Ridley why he did not want to check a potential episode of foul play involving Owen Farrell. The former England captain had seemingly been caught off the ball by Harlequins’ Stephan Lewies.
The incident was highlighted on TNT Sports by Austin Healey, the co-commentator and former England international, with Lewies having already picked up a yellow card.
Terheege was heard over the hot mic saying “the problem I have got now is that it looks like Austin has instigated it, because we’re late, so I don’t want to talk about it, OK?”
After a replay of the incident was later shown by TNT Sports, Terheege, with his microphone turned on, could then be heard saying, presumably to the TV match director, “Oh come on, don’t show it because it...” before his microphone was either cut off or Terheege realised he was being overheard on the broadcast.
In a statement addressing the incident the RFU, who are in charge of all match officials, said that it will look into the embarrassing incident as part of it’s weekly round review
“The RFU conducts regular reviews following all games that take place, as will be the case for Saracens v Harlequins,” said an RFU spokesperson.
Premiership Rugby had earlier released the following statement on Saturday evening, saying: “Premiership Rugby will review all incidents and follow the same process followed every week.”
The confrontation between Farrell and Lewies occurred in the build-up to a try by Juan Martin Gonzalez in the second half, Saracens’ seventh score in a 52-7 thrashing of Harlequins at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
As Farrell and Lewies scrapped Healey said on commentary: “I think [number] six slides into the ruck really late with both of his knees. Where he hits Farrell could be really interesting.”
This was followed by Terheege’s first exchange with referee Christophe Ridley, who could not be heard over the broadcast, with Terheege saying: “The problem I have got now of course is it looks like Healey has instigated it, yeah?” This was followed by Terheege adding that because the officials had been late to spot the incident, “I don’t want to talk about it, OK?”
Joe Marler, the Harlequins and England prop, commented on footage of the incident late on Saturday evening, branding it “ridiculous”.
There was also reaction from the player welfare group Progressive Rugby, who voiced their frustration over the fact that the incident had been ignored.
Professor John Fairclough said: “Whatever the reason, it is clear a decision has been taken to ignore foul, reckless or dangerous play because of concern that it had been highlighted by a pundit. This is hugely concerning and a clear dereliction of a match official’s duty to ensure player safety. An explanation should be sought as a matter of urgency.”