Former referee Nigel Owens has called for the officiating to become more streamlined and believes that there are too many figures involved in making decisions.
Owens admitted that he was “glad” that he had retired after witnessing Bristol’s Josh Caulfield have his red card rescinded for a rucking incident against Connacht.
But he wants changes to the current refereeing system. “You have got to look at the whole process, not just refereeing sanctions, which are mostly correct, but the judiciary and citing process that follows,” he wrote for WalesOnline.
“At the moment, it’s spoiling the game because people just don’t know what decisions are going to be given.
“The issue I believe is that there are simply too many people involved in these decisions… You have the referees, assistant referees, TMO, referee coach, referee performance reviewer and referee manager, while you have several other people involved in the judiciary process too.
“For me, particularly at the professional end of the game, it all needs to be streamlined. Of course, it shouldn’t be the case that there becomes a dictatorship making these decisions, but that streamlining needs to happen sooner rather than later for consistency reasons.
“More people involved means more inconsistency – and it’s that inconsistency that’s spoiling our game. Something has to be done.”