Smith reprimanded by IRB

Brian Smith has been rebuked by the International Rugby Board for his criticism of Jonathan Kaplan's refereeing performance in England's 23-15 defeat to Wales.

Smith, the England attack coach, accused Kaplan of not being even handed and claimed his performance at the Millennium Stadium had been influenced by the Wales management.

He said on Monday: "His (Kaplan's) whole demeanour through that match, the way he addressed our team in the changing room beforehand - he had clearly had heaps of pressure put on by Wales.

"The way our team was addressed prior to the Wales game took me a little bit by surprise. It was clear to me that Wales had done their job in terms of getting stuck into the referee.

"What we are really trying to say to the refs is: 'Please judge us the same way you judge other teams and do not to come into the game with a preconceived idea'."

But the IRB have praised Kaplan's performance at the Millennium Stadium and warned Smith to direct any future concerns through the proper channels.

In a statement issued today, the IRB said: "Recent comments made by a member of the England team management that appear to question the performance of IRB referee Jonathan Kaplan were unwarranted.

"The official performance review of the Wales versus England match at the Millennium Stadium ranks Kaplan's overall performance as high and the IRB is satisfied that Kaplan followed the correct protocol for addressing both teams on and off the field and dealt with England and Wales in a fair and professional manner and refereed what was in front of him.

"An official process exists for unions to give feedback to the IRB on refereeing performances.

"IRB referee manager Paddy O'Brien and the RFU elite rugby director Rob Andrew shared a very positive meeting on Monday, which makes the timing of the comments regrettable and unfortunate."

Smith's comments were clearly aimed at Craig Joubert, the inexperienced South African referee in charge of England's clash with Ireland at Croke Park on Saturday evening.

They also emphasised a feeling within the camp that England are suffering from a "perception problem" over their discipline, which has been a major issue since Martin Johnson took over.

Kaplan sin-binned Mike Tindall and Andy Goode against Wales, taking England's running total of yellow cards to eight in just three Tests.

Smith queried both sin-binnings and questioned why Lee Byrne was not sent to the cooler for taking out Delon Armitage in the air, when Shane Geraghty was shown a yellow card for a similar offence against Italy the previous week.

On the same day as Smith criticised Kaplan, England captain Steve Borthwick called for Joubert to give his side a fair crack of the whip.

"What we hope is that Joubert referees both sides equally," said Borthwick.

"When you go on to the field for that 80 minutes you just want both teams refereed exactly the same, with the same interpretations. Then we have got a level to be accountable to."