Tokyo (AFP)

World Rugby, engaged in a fight to protect the physical integrity of the players, set foot in the plate Tuesday pointing the controversial issues that have been controversial since the start of the World Cup in Japan.

The attack is frontal: "The team of the referees of the competition recognized that the level of the arbitration observed during the weekend of opening (...) did not always correspond to the standards established by World Rugby and by itself, "wrote the international federation in a statement released Tuesday afternoon in Tokyo.

The Federation points out "certain problems posed by the use of technological tools and a faulty communication between the members of the referee corps, which influenced the decision-making process".

Several incidents have been discussed Saturday and Sunday. But it looks like the high veneer hit by Australian winger Reece Hodge on Fijian Peceli Yato, in the Wallabies (39-21) win on Saturday in Sapporo, which provoked the ire of World Rugby .

- Three yellow cards in Samoa-Russia -

Yato was forced to leave the field on concussion. But Hodge's move was punished only by a mere penalty by referee Ben O'Keefe, who did not require the support of the video and did not get in touch with his assistant.

World Rugby who, before the World Cup, had stressed his intention to severely punish illicit veneers (over the shoulders or carried out without clasping the opponent with his arms), finally summoned Hodge to appear Wednesday before a Disciplinary Committee for " dangerous veneer ".

These instructions of severity and method, put black and white by World Rugby, were followed up in the hour which followed the publication of its communiqué.

French referee Romain Poite recited the lesson Tuesday in the only match of the day, won by Samoa against Russia (34-9). He temporarily excluded three players (Samoans Matu'u and Lee-Lo and Russia's Gotovtsev) for dangerous veneers.

-'They whistle us like a small country'-

In the first two cases, he used the video's support to view the sequence and then take a penalty after answering, in English, three questions: 1. Was there any contact with the video? head? 2. Did this pose a degree of danger? 3. Are there any factors that could mitigate the penalty?

In the latter case, the Russian pillar Kirill Gotovtev inherited a yellow card without the slightest recourse to video.

Outside veneers, other decisions have sparked controversy since the start of the World Cup.

Argentina coach Mario Ledesma lashed out at Australia's Angus Gardner in the final minutes of Saturday's 23-21 loss to France. "It's a shame they whistle like a small country," Ledesma said.

Fustigated for these remarks in Argentina, the coach then apologized.

Moreover, just after the All Blacks' game against the Springboks (23-13), New Zealand captain Kieran Read said he felt "a bit helpless" in the face of a decision by Jerome Garcès.

The French referee ordered a simple penalty against South African Makazole Mapimpi, guilty of having unlawfully stopped, in position of last defender, a test action. An act potentially punishable by a penalty test with a yellow card.

All while the two teams had called for the impartiality of the arbitration before the game, eventually won by the All Blacks.

At the World Cup, the referees are accompanied by a video assistance (TMO) allowing them to review from the field an action from different angles. The OMT may also alert the central referee if there is suspicion of an unlawful act.

© 2019 AFP