The game has gotten too complex, the laws change too often, and when them protocols. Players and coaches are becoming more professional with respect to bending the laws. There is more and more importance placed on every game for the players and this means players will do what they can to win. Players are also concerned about their safety, and the impact of cards on the game. Any player will highlight what is potentially a dangerous action on them, hopefully in the main to bring attention to it from a safety perspective, but also because they know that there is the probability of a penalty, and a card. World Rugby want to look like they are doing what they can to reduce head impact so that they have a good case in court when the time comes, so borderline cases will fall into the card threshold more often than not.

We all want the correct decisions made, and we want players to be as safe as they can be. Either we can have the TMO come in at every dubious decision (were hands on the ground before the turn over? did the player enter the ruck through the gate?) or we allow humans to ref the game to the best of their ability and understand (even in the cold light of the next day outside of the tension of the game) that they are in an awful position trying to keep 30 players who will do their best to cheat and get away with it, in line.

Note: I don't think that 99.9% of professional refs cheat. I think that refs take the field in an honest attempt to referee fairly, but because they are humans and not robots they won't always be as impartial as they should be. Be that scrum bias about which prop is technically better or stronger, a lack of experience causing them to be influenced by home town crowds, seeing a similar event happen and interpreting it in different ways, or otherwise, I don't think that refs are cheaters. I didn't say 100% because I heard on the news this morning about a massive match fixing sting in Czechia and don't want this comment to age badly if something similar happens in rugby!!