The Springboks' opening match at the Rugby World Cup was scheduled to finish at 7.20pm but it went on until 7.40. On Saturday night, their match against Samoa overran the planned time by half an hour. Apart from the havoc this plays with those of us who have deadlines to meet, there is a sense that it is annoying to the spectators too. And boring.The reason is the current obsession among match officials with technology and a lack of guidance on the subject. For example, how far back in a move must the referee or television match official go, to determine whether or not a pass was forward? The rules say: to the point where the movement started and can be referred only when a try has been scored. But what if there were 10 phases involved?Or what about referring penalties and drop-goals too? Last year in, a European Cup match between Munster and Northampton, there were 40 phases which ended with Ronan O'Gara dropping a goal for Munster. But if the TMO had gone back to the beginning of the move he would have discovered a forward pass.We can't reject technology entirely but common sense must prevail. And there must also be some spontaneity allowed for the referee. Rugby is not a game of immaculate perfection and trying to achieve this through technology will rob the game of some of its romance, which includes the odd mistake...