It has been established longer in rugby, and let's not forget there have been some absolute howlers made in video reviews, just as there have been in football. The profile of rugby is much lower than football though so they don't get as much publicity when they happen. That isn't to say football can't learn from rugby though, just as any process shouldn't learn from a more established, and arguably better, one.
With the current handball law there is already effectively a flowchart. Was the arm in the expected position for the footballing action being performed. If no handball, if yes play on. OK, that's simplifying it a bit, but the current offside law is very straightforward. The problem is it relies on human judgement, and I can't see any way of avoiding that, other than saying it is always handball if the ball strikes an arm no matter where it is placed. That human judgement is much less common in rugby and it is usually black and white.
The difference is all are international referees in their own right, so there's a much more formal hierarchy in football. To use an example, the process for the knock on by Farrell at the end of the England vs Fiji game really didn't look good to me. The Australian touch judge didn't seem to be taking no for an answer, he kept questioning the decision saying are you sure and seemed to me intent on having the last say. This wasn't the referee having a sounding board, rather the other way round.
In any case though this already happens in football, just over comms that no one can hear except the officials.
Fair point, although the VAR screens are so small I can't really see three people crowding round. That's a different question though, why are referees expected to make massive decisions by watching a TV screen little bigger than a 1980s portable.
The big issue here is there is a reason why controversial decisions can't be shown in the ground. Football has a very, very different spectator base to rugby, and when football decisions have accidentally been displayed it has caused a crowd disturbance. Can you really imagine a penalty decision being shown live on a big screen whilst the match officials try to make a decision? I can't.
And that highlights another big difference, perceived injustices just aren't reacted to the same across the two sports. Take the Tom Curry sending off against Argentina, most pundits though that was incredibly harsh, but the response in the media was muted, there was no big uproar. Compare that to what the reaction would have been if that was Declan Rice being sent off in the opening game of the next World Cup for a minor foul. There would be total meltdown with players, managers, pundits, the media, fans, pretty much everyone. The two sports really just don't compare.
