Nip this cancer in the bud

Put simply, Byrne's diving antics to not only get Scotland's Phil Godman sent off but to allow Wales a chance of stealing an unlikely victory last week were beneath contempt.

More laughable were claims from the Welsh camp that he was actually tripped.

To their credit, the BBC Wales programme, Scrum V, played a close-up slow motion replay of the incident and it shows the fragile and delicate Byrne brushing past Godman's body (which was in the process of jumping up to block Bryne's chip) and making the slightest contact before crumpling in a heap as if he'd been shot. Godman is dismissed, Wales get a penalty which they kick to tie the score and set up the dramatic last moments which sealed them their victory.

With no one actually in the Cardiff book depository at the time, Byrne fell down on a whim. His antics were disgraceful and cast a further smear on the game. Former Welsh international Mike Hall thankfully called it for what it was while Phil Bennett and Rob Jones at least had the decency to look embarrassed. Besides, Byrne only fell over because I was doing the hoovering and bumped into my telly!

He wasn't the only one at it. The Irish scrum either took to the field in Paris on roller-skates or were trying to con the ref into giving them a number of penalties, England's Ugo Monye had a case of terrible Byrnes against Italy while his captain Steve Borthwick was seen making card signals to the ref in order to get a fellow professional sin-binned.

This is rugby not football and as ex-Scotland international John Beattie points out in this week's paper, the IRB have to clamp down on simulation and unsportsmanlike conduct with retrospective punishments being dealt out lest the game descend to farce.

It could be argued that it already has with football being aped to the hilt. For the Stade Francais and Springbok gougers read Schumacher v Battiston and the butcher of Bilbao. For Harlequins' bloodgate shenanigans read Chile's own fake blood scam to try (unsuccessfully) to stop Brazil's qualification for the 1990 World Cup. For Lee Byrne, Monye et al read just about every footballer you'll see in this summer's World Cup with Drogba and Cristiano Ronaldo set to lead the way in diving. And on a minor scale, some rugby pros are showing themselves in press calls to have as much charisma as Alan Shearer.

However, rugby is not beyond salvation but the IRB must get tough on the cheats quickly. If left to fester, the cancer will spread like it did by football's beaks who left it unchecked for so long that the sport's claim to be the beautiful game is a very hollow one.

As for Byrne, Wales coach Warren Gatland will not take any action. He is from an All-Black culture which is fond of not only practicing skull-duggery on the pitch but sweeping it under the carpet. The lamentable Kiwi reaction to Tana Umaga's disgraceful assault on Brian O'Driscoll when the Lions toured New Zealand in 2005 being a classic example.

Laughably, there are those in the Principality who still believe Byrne was tripped (despite the TV evidence) with one media outlet slating Scotland as being "sour-faced".

Well boyos, I'd rather be sour-faced than two!