"England are cheats" say some.

"Referees are unfair to England" say others.

Well, it now seems that both factions have a part of the truth. In today's Guardian, Alun Richards, a former international referee who is now a Welsh Rugby Union referee assessor explains why.

He writes: "I do think that there is a case for brandishing yellow cards more often than is generally the case to get the message across that slowing down opposition ball illegally will not be tolerated. We are in the entertainment business and crowds want to see better spectacles…"

Other referees clearly agree with him, and the consequences of this shift in emphasis grow clearer with every international weekend.   While the referees concentrate on penalizing skullduggery at the breakdown, they are missing (or tolerating) forward passes, crooked put-ins, and late tackles. They also seem to ignore defensive lines that are well off-side, and offensive lines that commit blatant obstruction under the guise of deploying decoy runners – sometimes even taking out defenders off the ball to create holes for attackers to run through.

Other national coaches have seen the writing on the wall, and adapted their tactics – they make every effort to stay squeaky-clean at the breakdown, while exploiting leniency in other areas to the limit. England have yet to wise up. End of story.

Wassail!