IRB won't address decoy runners until January

Concerns about the use of decoy runners will not be fully addressed by the International Rugby Board until January.

England coach Clive Woodward has criticised the practice, widely used in the southern hemisphere.

His comments won the backing of his Argentina counterpart Marcello Loffreda, who claimed Australia’s second try in Friday’s 25-8 win over his team should not have been allowed by referee Paul Honiss.

Matt Burke ran in front of try-scorer Joe Roff before he took the scoring pass and blocked the covering defence getting to the Wallabies winger.

IRB chief executive Mike Miller said today he would not be issuing any new guidelines to referees over the use of decoy runners, other than to confirm it is against the rules and should be penalised.

However, he said the matter would be discussed at a pre-arranged IRB meeting in January which has been set up specifically to address playing matters that have come to light during the World Cup.

“The referees are well aware of the situation,” said Miller.

“They should and do apply the laws and decoy runners are not allowed. If they are used, they should be penalised. It is a question of when the referees feel it has happened.

“You have to remember we are in a World Cup situation and coaches do say things they hope will gain them an advantage in the competition.

“But we do understand the concerns and I’m sure it will be addressed at the conference we have already arranged in January.”

Meanwhile, Miller has dismissed Argentinian criticisms of their schedule, which has crammed their four Pool A matches into a 16-day period, compared to the 21 Ireland have been allocated, despite the Pumas being second seeds to Australia.

“We have tried to be fair to every team,” said Miller. “We have tried to arrange the schedule so those who are playing games closer together have to do less travelling,” he said.

“We tried to strike a balance but I guess you can’t please everyone.”