French broadcaster hits back at Bath boss over TMO criticism

French rugby broadcasters have pushed back after Bath’s Champions Cup exit triggered a row over video review access, saying the television match official can see every angle and decide what to study. Bath lost 38-26 to Bordeaux-Begles in Sunday’s semi-final and now plans to complain to European Professional Club Rugby over the footage available to Ben Whitehouse, after Johann van Graan said three potential head contacts on Alfie Barbeary were not properly reviewed.

Cedric Beaudou, France Televisions’ rugby editor, said the process was simple: when the video referee asks to speak to the on-field referee, play stops, the broadcaster provides the footage, and the images are shown. He added that the video referee is “the master of what he wants to see” and said “it’s impossible to hide footage,” arguing that the official has access to every camera and every angle.

The dispute has highlighted a structural issue that goes beyond Bath’s defeat. EPCR said TMO interventions are managed by the television broadcast, with two screens used, one live and one on a five-second delay, and that the arrangement is the same for all EPCR matches. It added that every incident the TMO wants to study can be the subject of a formal review. Bath’s grievance is that, in this case, France TV showed no replays of any of the incidents Whitehouse missed.

Van Graan struck a careful tone, accepting Bordeaux-Begles were the better side but arguing that the competition still needs consistency in how incidents are put in front of officials. He said he thought referee Nika Amashukeli “did a fantastic job” and that Whitehouse “did the best that he could with the angles available to him,” but added that Bath never saw the footage come through for the three incidents on Barbeary. A still image showed Bordeaux captain Maxime Lucu making head-on-head contact with Barbeary, and Bath officials are expected to take Van Graan’s observations to EPCR in the coming days.