In terms of refereeing, there aren't many things we'd like to bring across from soccer to rugby but the way in which of"cials are treated after making clear mistakes on the pitch is one of them. Take Joel Jutge, for example. The French referee's decision to award Jerry Flannery's try against Namibia last weekend was nothing short of high-handed, particularly as he declined to use the technology available to him to judge whether the Irish hooker had in fact touched the ball down over the line.

Jutge, however, has walked away from the incident without so much as a public rebuke for his stupidity, unlike say Premiership soccer referee Rob Styles, who was admonished by his boss and effectively given a onematch ban when he erroneously awarded Chelsea a penalty against Liverpool a few weeks back. Paul Honiss is another referee who got away with some crazy refereeing last weekend when he "rst failed to punish Schalk Burger for a ridiculously high challenge on Junior Polu during the South Africa-Samoa match, and then proceeded to disallow a perfectly legitimate try for the Islanders minutes into the second-half. As we've seen with the Ireland squad this past week, if there's no consequence to a poor performance, it can continue for quite a while. Let's hope, at least, that Jutge and Honiss aren't on the shortlist when it comes to refereeing the "nal in Paris on 20 October.

MUNSTER LOOK TO HAVE BETTER FRINGE BENEFITS

The Magners League, in case you've forgotten about it, gets underway for the Irish provinces next weekend with Connacht facing the Dragons and Ulster hosting the Ospreys on Friday night, while 24 hours later Edinburgh travel to Leinster and Munster play Llanelli. Munster have added significantly to their ensemble during the summer . . .

Paul Warwick, Kieran Lewis, Rui Tipoki, Niall Ronan . . . and we think, at the very least, they'll be the leading Irish team in the competition this time around.

Paddy Power have Declan Kidney's side at 10/1 for the title, with Leinster at 7/2 and Ulster 9/2. The bookies don't appear to hold much hope for Connacht, however, who are listed at 125/1.

We'd put our money each way on Munster.

JAPANESE LEAD THE LESSER-LIGHTS LEAGUE

Our 'B' World Cup has been pretty exciting this week. While Tonga were the only one of the bottom eight ranked side to record a victory, Japan currently lead our table with 35 points scored in two games. Tonga and the USA, who've also played two games, are tied for second on 25 points, with Namibia and Canada next on 17 points apiece after a couple of terri"c displays.

IRELAND'S RUGBY WORLD CUP MEMORIES NUMBER 2 . . .

Australia pip Ireland back in 1991 At around 4.25pm on 20 October 1991, Ireland stood on the cusp of something special. Gordon Hamilton had just trundled over for a try to give Ireland an 18-15 lead in the World Cup quarterfinal against Australia. The trouble was they couldn't hold on with Michael Lynagh going over in the corner for the match-winning try. So near but yet so far.

RUGBY BY NUMBERS . . .

58.4 The average points per match in the 2007 World Cup (before yesterday's games).

We have to say we want to win it. It's part of the Irish psyche to hide your lights under a bushel, but there comes a time when you can't kid people. If people want to use our ambition as a stick to beat us with, there is nothing we can do about it Ireland winger Denis Hickie maintains that the boys are in it for the long haul, regardless of any early setbacks MOUTHING OFF. . .