Letter From Bordeaux:It's true that the Southern Hemisphere big three scored 219 points between them in their opening matches and that more of the same can be anticipated, not least when the All Blacks play Portugal tomorrow.

Perhaps too, some of the second- and third-tier countries will not be able to sustain their unexpectedly high levels of performance over four games.

Nonetheless, a striking early feature of the opening salvos of the 2007 World Cup is that the "minnows" are not quite the pussycats of four years ago.

The IRB may give the distinct impression that money is their prime objective, but at least their financial assistance has helped the likes of Georgia, Namibia, the USA, Romania and even Portugal achieve new-found levels of physical strength and fitness.

This has to be weighed against the vexed issue of scheduling. In being asked to play four days after their opening games, against side coming in fresh, Argentina, Italy, Japan and the USA clearly suffered.

The same may well apply to Georgia, Tonga and Fiji this weekend.

Another couple of factors are working in favour of the underdogs. The IRB's new get-tough policy in clamping down on foul play is all well and good, but there should be some allowance for this being a World Cup, which comes around seldom in most players' careers.

This is no surprise, and had been flagged here as well as elsewhere, not least in each citing commissioner having 25 camera angles available to him. Even so, the two-game suspension on Phil Vickery was severe in the extreme.

Schalk Burger was fortunate to escape a yellow card for his dangerous tackle on the Samoan halfback Junior Poluleuligaga, but he did not deserve his initial four-game ban.

That punishment was rightly reduced to two games, though given the abrasive way Burger plays, it's a surprise to learn he had never in 34 tests faced a disciplinary hearing for such an offence.

No-one could condone headbutting, but in suspending Portugal's Juan Severino Somoza the IRB statement explained, "Having regard to the player's admission, his clean and good disciplinary record, and other relevant mitigating factors the judicial officer (Christopher Quinlan) reduced what would otherwise have been an eight-week suspension to one of four weeks."

Do they not realise they may as well suspend Somoza for four years for all the difference it will make to him?

Likewise, you wonder if the IRB and their judicial officers realise that the five-week ban on the USA's Paul Emerick, despite Olly Barkley arguing Emerick did not intend to spear him, may as well be five months.

The citing and suspension procedures do seem highly arbitrary, and when asked if the IRB's crackdown will take away from rugby's physical nature, the All Blacks flanker Jerry Collins replied, "I hope not because then I would stop playing. It is a long way to come for your tournament to end early. But what can you do? In that (South Africa v Samoa) game you could have cited 10 people. It is just the luck of the draw who gets picked up and who does not."

Collins also admitted he is aware there are a number of citing commissioners watching his every move: "It is like having someone looking over your shoulder. You have it in the back of your mind, but the game is brutal and these things happen. Sometimes you get cited for things you wouldn't normally get cited for. It's just luck really."

There have been dire warnings about the consequences of using feet on opponents, and undoubtedly players are being a little more wary in clearing out ruck ball. So far this has been particularly obvious in Argentina's opening win over France and in Ireland's struggles to overcome Namibia.

Admittedly, the IRB clampdown did not noticeably deter the All Blacks from procuring quick ruck ball against an Italian side Ireland struggled with last month.

But speaking at Tuesday's corporate shindig in the Bordeaux Chambers of Commerce, the former French lock Olivier Roumat said this has been the biggest problem in the opening round of matches, and that referees need to stop the lesser teams from slowing down ruck ball.

In Roumat's opinion, France and Ireland were both continually frustrated at the breakdown, and he argued that in an overall context referees needed to be more severe on slowing or killing ruck ball and that there had not been enough yellow cards issued in the World Cup so far.

In actual fact, there was some sympathy for France within the Irish camp when watching the opening game. The Ireland forwards coach Niall O'Donovan would be as loth as any coach in this competition to criticise officials, and he admitted Ireland had not been aggressive enough at the breakdown against Namibia.

However, when asked specifically if he felt there had been enough yellow cards issued to date for spoiling at the breakdown, he said, "I don't think so. The likes of France need fast ruck ball - no different from ourselves - and if you slow it down for a second, it spoils the way we want to play really. So I do agree with what you're saying - referees need to clamp down a lot more.

"They have been a bit lenient about guys slowly getting out of the way. I think they need to be sharper around that area and get bodies out of the way faster."

Everybody wants to see a proper contest for the ball at the breakdown. Otherwise we may as well make it 13-a-side and abandon lineouts as well.

But unless referees clamp down with equal severity on tacklers positioning their bodies the wrong side of the ball and on those rolling away slowly, then the IRB's get-tough policy is only going to benefit the spoilers.