...and what it is doing to the game.
Here is Wayne Barnes's farewell words after the RWC Final:
“See ya later Rugby World Cup. Won’t miss you, or the death threats.”
How sad when an official has that to say about the most momentous tournament/game in the sport.
Even Nigel Owens recently said he wouldn't want to ref the game today, it's become too technical and complicated.
Here's what you have to remember: for every good ref you drive away from the game because of abuse for a few errors or perceived bias, a probably worse and more inexperienced one has to take his place. It's a cycle that's not going to do the game any good.
World Rugby also needs to reconsider the laws of the game. If one of the best ever like Owens says he wouldn't want to ref it now, you have to wake up to the fact that you have created a big problem.
Personally I think the TMO is too involved - as Owens also said, the drive for getting it perfect is now actually having a negative effect because it is an unobtainable standard. We saw with the red card in the final compared to previous events in the tournament, there is still no consistency.
For me, there are three officials on the field - leave the game to them and bring the TMO in only when absolutely necessary. If there are errors, so be it. There's been errors for as long as the game has existed, and they're still there despite all the myriad arse over and under ultra def camera angles and slo mo we have now.