KEY POINTS:
World referee supremo Paddy O'Brien has made a furious assault on what he calls "bleating rugby coaches, players and officials", warning it has to stop.
O'Brien, the IRB's refereeing co-ordinator, gave notice of a crackdown at the World Cup on players questioning referees' decisions.
"This has crept back
into the game," he said.
"Experienced players are taking on inexperienced referees and cashing in on their lack of experience.
"We're not going to accept this at the World Cup. Those players doing so will be penalised at once."
O'Brien says world rugby chiefs have been dismayed at the growing trend for coaches to use the media to undermine match officials and players.
The Springboks bitterly criticised All Blacks captain Richie McCaw for what they alleged were his illegal tactics.
Stand-in South African captain Johann Muller said: "If Richie McCaw was blond and wearing a green jersey like Schalk Burger or dark haired and wearing a gold shirt like Australia's George Smith, I honestly don't think he would finish one test because he is so consistently on the wrong side."
O'Brien said "Some of the comments I read in the build-up to the two test matches in New Zealand were absurd.
"The Australians were accused of not scrummaging, and individual players were accused of being cheats. We have had enough of this; it has got to stop.
"I am determined that the World Cup will be won by the best team on the paddock, not in newspaper columns and certainly not by a coach running to a newspaper, bleating.
"We are banning all meetings between coaches and referees [allowed last weekend before the Bledisloe Cup game at Eden Park] before World Cup games.
"No other sport allows coaches to go in and see referees, armed with laptops, statistics and photos, before a game. Rugby should not be the first; it is absurd.
"Referees must referee what they see in front of them on the field during a game, not have pre-conceived ideas through coaches trying to influence them 24 hours before a match even starts.
"We will be putting a huge emphasis on that point before the World Cup begins."
O'Brien said he was disturbed by the number of allegations being made about cheating.
"To take the two recent subjects of this trend, Richie McCaw is an outstanding No 7, probably the best the world has ever seen. All open sides contest at the breakdown. It doesn't mean McCaw is cheating.
"And as for the Australian front row, I don't accept they won't scrummage. All teams get some scrums wrong, it's part of the game. To suggest they're doing it deliberately is absurd. Such talk has got to stop."
O'Brien blames the trend on growing pressure on coaches, and the willingness of some reporters to pass on as gospel everything a coach says.
"I think some coaches believe they can use the media to get the upper hand," he said. "And some reporters have no credibility at all.
"But as I say, this World Cup should be won by the best team. I don't care which side that is but I do know that referees cannot afford to listen to public opinion and they can't afford to let myths grow. They have to deal with facts."
