Grail said:
Of course BoD and Ref's Call are contradictory. BoD is a stupid rule.
No, benefit of the doubt exists for a very good reason - to provide a consistent, predictable resolution to line ball situations. And it has been part of the rulebook (albeit an obscure part until recently) for decades, if not since day one. The Ref's Call is the "blow-in" rule and one that was redundant from the day it was introduced.
BoD should benefit the defending team IMO. If that were the case, much of the confusion would be taken away.
No it wouldn't. While video officials continue to pretend there is clear cut footage of events where things are plainly too close to call without doubt you will continue to have a lottery of unpredictable Try and No Try rulings regardless of which way the doubt is supposed to apply. Instead of having random No Try rulings poping out where things are 50-50 and should have been ruled Try - BoD, you'll get random Try rulings poping out where things are 50-50 and should been ruled No Try - BoD.
That said, I've always thought the Benefit of the Doubt rule should apply in favour of the defense, not the attack. As with cricket where the doubt goes in favour of not changing the scoreboard (by giving the batsman out), I think the benefit in RL should always be in favour of the status quo. If you can't put points on the board without doubt then you can't put points on the board. Neither the referee or the rules should be helping you change the state of the game if you're not good enough to do it in your own right.
Leigh.