Connolly: Citings were to be expected

Team talk: Stirling Mortlock stressed the importance of discipline to his team-mates before their match against Japan

MONTPELLIER, 13 September - The Australia coach John Connolly says the number of player citings at the IRB Rugby World Cup is not a surprise, given a pre-tournament warning about a planned crackdown on foul play.

Connolly said in a meeting of coaches and captains in Paris before the tournament they were shown video examples of unacceptable tackles in other competitions and told they would not be tolerated at RWC 2007.

He said the IRB were putting "a marker in the ground" for the game as a whole, not only this tournament.

"I probably think the world of rugby, the IRB particularly, are trying to put a marker in, in this tournament, for the future of the game and what's accepted and what's not accepted," Connolly said on Wednesday.

"How we play and how we behave in world cups at the top level influences how the game's administrated and judged down through the grades. And I think in this day and age we can't criticise that whatsoever."

Connolly revealed that the Australia captain Stirling Mortlock had addressed the team about the importance of discipline before their opening game against Japan and would do so again before the match against Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.

RNS plr/kb/gs