Dale Johnson on twitter says it's common place for Swarbrick to go and talk to the VAR officials at half-time.
I agree that it shouldn't be though.
What if a similar incident had happened in the second half and hadn't been referred? Everyone would have been speculating that Swarbrick had influenced Attwell (whether correct or not.)
There's scope in the VAR protocol for a player to be sent off later on if VAR sees an incident earlier missed but again how can this be allowed to happen if there's potential contact with the 'outside world'.
There's plenty of time for analysis and feedback after the match. 15 minutes at half-time isn't long enough considering the problems that many of them have!
He is the boss as far as VAR implementation is concerned, therefore, that being the case ---why should the boss not talk to his workforce because that is exactly what he is doing and everything else is just speculation.
I suppose as his workforce is in the business of making decisions it is fair to speculate he is discussing the validity of decisions. I think this muddies the water as to who has a say in what the VAR recommends to the referee, does Swarbrick make comments to the VAR during the game? Does anyone else speak to the VAR at any stage during the match? More overarchingly, is the VAR being influenced by other parties during the game?
While I would be very confident the answer to both those questions is no - this interaction does suggest that the VAR is not isolated from the world as the PGMOL seemed to previously suggest and as, in my opinion, should be the way they operate.