RUGBY referee Chris White did England no favours when he made a pig's ear of the last few seconds of the Italy v Wales match.

The Welsh were quite rightly incensed after he told them they had time for a line-out, then changed his mind after they kicked for touch in the hope of driving over for a try rather than going for goal to secure a draw.

The fact that they had shown no previous hint of scoring from such situations is irrelevant. What matters is that White, an Englishman, is perceived to have stabbed them in the back, which means the knives will be sharpened more than ever for England's arrival in Cardiff tomorrow.

If Mathew Tait thinks he had a rough baptism there two years ago, he might find he can't even get across the Severn Bridge this time. His path could be blocked not just by Gavin Henson, but also by Charlotte Church, Tom Jones, Max Boyce, J P R Williams and the Merthyr Male Voice Choir.

It's a shame that it took an injury to Mike Tindall to get Tait into the No 13 shirt he should have had all season. While coach Brian Ashton has clearly brought about an improvement his liking for Tindall smacks of a Bath Old Boys' union, and JPR must wonder what has happened to specialist full backs.

In recent years we have seen Jason Robinson, Josh Lewsey and Tom Voyce switch between wing and full back as though the positions were inter-changeable. And after telling Lewsey that he was playing too much like a winger, Ashton has replaced him at No 15 with another winger in Mark Cueto.

THE other mystery from last weekend's Six Nations matches was why, until he was actually suspended, newspapers insisted on referring to Mauro Bergamasco's deliberate injuring of Welsh fly half Stephen Jones as an "alleged punch."

We live in litigious times, but sometimes there is too much caution in this business. There was nothing alleged about the disgraceful punch - it was perfectly clear from the television replays seconds after the incident. It was pure thuggery and it's time that such TV evidence was brought to bear immediately in such cases when the referee and his nearest assistants have failed to spot it.

Jones could not complete the match and Bergamasco should not have had the opportunity to score the winning try. He should have been sent off.

I USED to think Roy Keane was an appalling person; now I think perhaps he should be the Prime Minister.

The picture of him snarling in a referee's face, supported by Manchester United team-mates, seemed to confirm my impression that Keane was a thoroughly nasty piece of work, and in some respects he probably is.

But that's no bad thing when it comes to sorting out a football club, and if he could bring the same sort of discipline to the country as a whole he might reverse our slide into slobbery and gross inefficiency.

It's strange how professional footballers seem to think they can drive at twice the speed limit in their ostentatious cars, yet they can't turn up on time to catch the team bus. There was no explanation of why Sunderland's tardy trio were late, but after sending them home Keane hinted that he had found a number of slack practices on his arrival at the club.

That does not say much for his old nemesis, Mick McCarthy, who after his yo-yo existence with Sunderland is now threatening to take Wolves back into the Premiership. Will he, or they, be any better equipped to stay there?

Perhaps we shouldn't get too carried away by Sunderland's success because the other teams relegated from the Premiership last season are also in the frame for a swift return. But considering the Black Cats' dreadful start to the season, the transformation under Keane suggests that he's made of the right stuff for the management game.