FIERY England forward James Graham is infamous for the passion and intensity with which he goes about his business on the footy field.

In the heat of the battle during the Rugby League World Cup final on Saturday night, television microphones picked up Graham hurling an almighty spray in the direction of Kangaroos captain Cameron Smith.

The foul-mouthed rant happened after England’s Luke Gale appeared to have taken Smith high in a tackle, leading to players from both side rushing for a push-and-shove.

A tete-a-tete ensued, punctuated with some colourful language, and at one-point Graham could be clearly heard saying: “You're a cheating c***”. It’s believed the barb was aimed at Smith.

media_camera James Graham isn’t sorry for his foul-mouthed sledge

But Graham says such moments and profanity-filled outburst are a reality of the game and if viewers are offending by it then ‘ref mics should be turned off”.

“Loads of stuff gets said on the field. If you don’t like it turn off the ref mics,” Graham said.

“That’s real life, real emotion out there. Stuff gets said all the time.

“Just because you pick it up ... you want to fake a reality?

“You want people to pat each other on the back? It is what it is. It’s just the game.

“I don’t even remember what I said.

“I shouldn’t have to either.

“Remember that, that’s real. I shouldn’t have to remember what I said and apologise to anyone. And I won’t.