For years, the Television Match Official — the TMO — has been the standard for reviewing on-field decisions in rugby. Starting in 2026, MLR is replacing it with the Referee Review System, or RRS.

The RRS puts decision-making back where it belongs: on the field. Referees remain the final authority on every call. But now, both officials and teams have a structured, transparent process to flag and review critical moments — without the delays and disruptions that have slowed the game down.

The result? Faster rugby. Clearer decisions. And a matchday experience that keeps fans in the action, not waiting on a replay.

Why the Change? Introducing the Referee Review System

MLR is committed to delivering the best brand of rugby in the world, and that means faster play, fewer interruptions, and a game-day experience fans can follow in real time. Meet the RRS.

The Referee Review System (RRS) replaced the TMO, bringing a new level of transparency to how incidents are reviewed.

The metrics shown in the table are defined as: 

• Team Challenges: When a team formally requests a referee decision be reviewed.
• Challenge Success Rate: How often a team challenge is successful. 
• Referee-Initiated Reviews: Separate from team challenges, these are incidents the referee wants to review again themselves. 
• Referee Accuracy: The percentage of correct decisions from all reviews.
• Average Review Time: The duration of each review, measured in seconds.

Team		Total # of Challenges	Total # of Success	Success Rate
Anthem RC		14	6	42.86%
California Legion		13	6	46.15%
Chicago Hounds		15	7	46.67%
NE Free Jacks		10	2	20.00%
Old Glory DC		14	5	35.71%
Seattle Seawolves		10	2	20.00%
TOTAL		76	28	35.23%