LETTERS: We can always blame the ref

FROM what we now read, it seems that England's pedestrian performance in the Rugby World Cup is the fault of our pernickety referees stifling the natural talent of our players as opposed to the encouragement on offer in the southern hemisphere.

As I remember it, on recent Lions rugby tours, British correspondents were vociferous in condemnation of the local referees who either didn't know the rules or chose to ignore them altogether.

P Gregory

Wotton-under-Edge,

Gloucestershire