Dubaiexile

Well who is watching the Lions v New Zealand today, and where??

Unfortunately I cannot as work as interfered, but it should be a cracking match!!!

If your lucky enough to be watching enjoy!

IKnowNothing

I have 3 choices, McGettigans in JLT (Overpriced shite), Goodfellas at tecom (better), Jebal Ali Club (a bit "down to earth"), I'll be at one of the latter two.

BEVS

Will be watching here in New Zealand .
Couldn't afford tickets,flights,accom and don't have Sky so will watch via a vpn.

Pongo

Meh

scrubbedexpat141

What a test but what an anti-climax.

Nevermind, can't wait for months and years of Kiwi whining.

Dubaiexile

And they will

Charl01

Sadly to be honest the Kiwis were robbed of the series, that should have been a penalty

scrubbedexpat141

I disrespectfully disagree. Could have been called either way potentially.

There were lots of 50/50 calls the entire series. They all fell both ways.

Miss Ann Thrope

And clearly video replays/TMOs will sort out all the controversies in football also...

jam25mack

Agree, I think the refs always have a hard time when reffing the all blacks. They're the Barcelona of rugby and get let off with loads of things which they know and use to their advantage. To say they're a relatively dirty team is an understatement.

jam25mack

I'm split on the whole opinion of introducing a TMO type system in football. Sometimes refs have a shocker and scumbags are allowed to get away with things they shouldn't BUT thats kind of half the fun with football, being able to have discussion / arguments with your mates who support rival teams. Not sure if there were video replays it would kill the essence of the game somewhat. Possibly a watered down version or a certain amount of decision challenges allowed by the captain would work better. I'm not sure.

scrubbedexpat141

I know...makes it watertight doesn't it....

Definitely. In rugby there's an expectation that the attacking / stronger team gets more decisions because they're on the front foot. NZ always are so probably get quite a few decisions. Richie McCaw was one of the greatest players the game has ever seen but by jolly was a lot of his greatness in the greyest areas around the lines of what's legal or not.

Challenges might be a good idea.
I'd like to see the retrospective stuff grow. More punishments for things unpunished or lightly punished when severe was more appropriate.

jam25mack

More retrospective action would be good but even that's a bit of a joke. Lack of consistency from one incident to the next depending on the team / player etc, ages to announce they will look at an incident, ages to make a decision, appeals that allow them to delay any ban so they can play in a certain game, if the ref saw / dealt with it meaning it is closed etc etc.

I think challenges could work. Say three per game at the choice of the captain / manager and only for sendings off, red cards, second yellows, offsides (play the whistle), claims of simulation..... after you've used your 3 tough titties. Similar approach to rugby where the ref asks the question and the chaps behind the screen gives him a concise answer 30-60 secs later.

scrubbedexpat141

Not a bad idea.

The only time I've ever seen any upset at TMO decisions is in the rugby when it's the 9th try of a rout and nobody in the stadium thought it wasn't a try and going to TMO is a waste of time.

Other than that, it doesn't spoil the game. The sides can ben getting ready for the next stage, quick huddle, quick chat. It is what it is.

3 challenges might be generous. One per half? Lose it if it's wrong?
A little bit American but it works in the NFL where the referees / umpires go to a hut with a screen and review the play before making a decision.

Miss Ann Thrope

But an NFL game takes 3 hours with constant stoppages and changes of personnel so the interruption is less intrusive in what is already a (ridiculously) fragmented set of activities. Think of even three challenges per team in a football match and how disruptive it would be???