The contentious captain’s challenge has been booted for the Super Rugby Pacific competition, which gets under way this weekend.

The rule innovation proved controversial in Super Rugby Aotearoa last year and hadn’t been trialled in Super Rugby AU.

It allowed captains to ask the referee – until a challenge was unsuccessful – to refer to the TMO an infringement in the buildup to a try, or to review foul play, with the referral then applied more broadly after the 75th minute.

But after much grumblings from players and coaches, common sense has prevailed as officials look to focus on speeding up the game rather than increasing stoppages.

“[The captain’s challenge] didn’t really help speeding the game up, and it wasn’t actually always used like it was intended,” New Zealand Rugby referee manager Bryce Lawrence said.

“It was intended for the big one-off clanger that the ref had got wrong, and it started to get used for every decision.

“So teams didn’t like it, and refs were happy to support the teams’ view on it.”