Writing in The Independent, Peter Bills hints that referee Romain Poite could be a firework waiting to go off when England play New Zealand at Twickenham on Saturday.
"England’s worry centres around their fear that Poite, like so many French referees this season, will allow many of the old tricks and skulduggery at the breakdown. Justifiably, they point to the chaos on show at most of the French Top 14 matches this season where players have been able to get away with either killing or slowing down the ball at the breakdown, or even diving over the top in many cases without sanction.
"Watching French club rugby this season has been like finding yourself in a time capsule. Did the game really change? Were new law interpretations really brought in to improve and speed up the play? Did not the All Blacks in particular, but also Australia, play some dazzling, attacking rugby in this year’s Tri-Nations under law interpretations in which almost instant re-cycling of the loose ball at the breakdown was paramount? If you have watched much French rugby, you will have concluded that all the above was a mere dream, an illusion, a fantasy."
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