Rugby is thankfully a long from football when it comes to simulation, and the sport’s officials want to keep it that way.
The World Cup will see the introduction of yellow cards for players caught feigning injury or diving in order to gain an advantage.
John Jeffrey, chairman of World Rugby’s match officials committee, warned that players straying away from the spirit of the game would face ten minutes in the sin bin.
‘Diving would be ungentlemanly conduct,’ Jeffrey said. ‘It would be a straight yellow card.’
‘There is a culture creeping in – I call it the football culture – of simulation; people appealing to the referee, players – and it has happened a couple of times – diving,’ the Scot said in the Daily Mail.
‘That is going to be sanctioned very heavily in this tournament.’
There could also be retroactive punishments, with citing commissioners having the power to use television replays to bring players to book, with repeat offenders facing suspensions.
