Sanzar boss Greg Peters has defended Super Rugby's conference system after the Reds won the right to host a Super Rugby play off even though they picked up the least points of the six teams in the playoffs. 
The Reds won the Australian Super Rugby conference and under the tournament rules they host the second quarter-final on Saturday, forcing the Sharks to travel to Brisbane even though the Reds scored less than the Sharks.
"The outcome which has occurred could happen to any one of the countries," Peters told the NZ Herald.
"It is the way the structure is designed to help with the broadcasting so there is a play-off match in each country."
Last year the final standings failed to show the system's flaws as the Reds, Stormers and Crusaders won their conferences and accumulated the most points.
"We have seen strong conferences in New Zealand and South Africa," Peters said, "but last year the Reds and Waratahs both qualified."
"It was great we had to wait until the final round to see how it all panned out."
The Chiefs could have ended up on top of the Super Rugby standings but they were denied a victory in extra time when television match official Mike Fraser ruled that Hurricanes hooker Dane Coles had scored a winning try against them in extra time.
Super Rugby officials have come under criticism recently and Sanzar game manager Lyndon Bray admitted that referees had performed strongly before the June test window but had not been as sharp since.
"There have been some really tricky decisions, they have been really tight when you watch them in real time," he said.
"TMOs are not perfect when it comes to applying judgment and depending on what question they are asked."
On Dane Coles's try Bray said that his gut instinct was that the footage was inconclusive.
"Mike (Fraser) was adamant that part of the ball grazed the chalk on the second lunge," he said.
"I am not going to debate it until I see some footage on a high-definition screen."
"There was no problem about Coles getting the ball in goal, the question is whether he grounded it."
Referee Jonathan Kaplan asked TMO Fraser whether it was a "try or no try" and Bray said that the TMO could have given a don't know response if he thought the footage was inconclusive.
When a player is tackled he is entitled to place the ball for a try even if it has already hit the ground. If this happens quickly in real time then the ball carrier had not infringed and the referee could award the try for what the public call a double movement..
"A TMO cannot get involved in any issue before the tryline," Bray said.
"All he has to look at is did the player ground the ball or did he go out of play?"
Crusaders half back Andy Ellis scored a legitimate try in Round 17 when he was pushed over the line by Sam Whitelock but on Saturday night he did not score against the Force, although it was awarded.
"That was clearly a wrong decision by the TMO, it should have been disallowed," Bray said.
Source: SuperXV
