"Technology is used too much and makes refereeing worse'

It was supposed to lessen the abuse of officials but is instead highlighting mistakes in games, says Nigel Owens

- Daniel Gallan

It was like waiting for the result of a referendum: were Scotland the real deal, one of the big dogs of world rugby, a team that could deliver while carrying the weight of expectation? Or were they pretenders, a flashy but flawed side that didn't have the sand to sit at the sport's top table? The decision would fall to the television match official Brian MacNeice after the referee Nic Berry deemed Sam Skinner's pick-and-go was held up over the line. With France leading 20-16 at Murrayfield after the 80th minute, this would be the last act of the match.

Multiple replays. Frames crawling across the screen. The ball probably touched the turf after sliding off a French foot. But probably wasn't enough to overturn the decision. Protocol must be followed and Berry's original call carried more weight than the evidence of our eyes. No try.

"If I was the TMO, based on the evidence that I saw, I would have awarded the try," says Nigel Owens, a retired referee who, for 19 years, was one of the most respected officials in the game.

"The benefit of the doubt should always go to the attacking team. That's how it used to be.

My philosophy is similar to the awarding of penalty tries. You can never say if a try would definitely have been scored. You go on probability and I'd say the ball was probably grounded."

Rugby is often accused of being mired in tradition but it is also in a constant state of evolution.