ENGLAND FAIL IN REFEREE BID

England have lost their bid to have a northern hemisphere referee in charge of Saturday's World Cup semi-final with New Zealand.
Australian Shayne Hayne, who was the referee for England's opening pool match against Papua New Guinea, was today appointed to control the first semi-final at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium.
It means that England will have had Australian referees in charge of all four of their matches in the tournament so far, with Tony Archer controlling their games against Australia and New Zealand.
A plea by coach Tony Smith to World Cup referees chief Mick Stone to have either Steve Ganson or Australia-born Ashley Klein, the Rugby Football League's two officials on the referees panel, fell on deaf ears.
"In the tournament manual drawn up prior to the tournament, it was agreed that appointments would be made on merit and, where merit permits, we would appoint on the basis of neutrality," said Stone.
Klein will be in charge of the second semi-final on Sunday between Australia and Fiji.