Rugby cannot say it is based on respect when Michael Cheika gets away with foul-mouthed rants.

OPINION: Ben O'Keeffe has been left dangling in the wind. The 28-year-old New Zealand referee has been utterly undermined by the disgraceful decision not to sanction Michael Cheika for his appalling behaviour during the game between England and Australia last weekend.

The disciplinary board, for the autumn internationals run by the Six Nations, which comes under the umbrella of World Rugby, took three whole days to look into the matter. A stream of soap suds then dribbled from the corner of their mouths. The board failed to back the referee and they failed to back the game of rugby. This is what we have come to expect from World Rugby and its constituent bodies who have shown time and time again that they are utterly incapable of policing the game.

A week ago independent judicial officer Roger Morris listened to the self-justifying nonsense coming from the NZR and failed to sanction Patrick Tuipulotu for causing Marco Tauleigne to leave the field in a neck brace.

GETTY IMAGES Wallabies Michael Hooper and Kurtley Beale protested too much against England last week.

Morris even suggested that initial contact was not with the head. But there is one angle that shows indisputably that Tuipulotu's shoulder hits Tauleigne's jaw. Even the New Zealand commentators acknowledged as much. And if New Zealand Rugby had any guts and concern for the game, it would stop defending these players and it would plead guilty. Don't hold your breath.

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EVAN BARNES/GETTY IMAGES Kiwi referee Ben O'Keeffe is one of the new breed of officials and deserves the backing of World Rugby.

But the mob at World Rugby, and at its constituent bodies, are far worse. They hold these sham investigations and then pretend time and time again that there is no case to answer. After the absurdly long three-day investigation into Cheika - an extraordinary waste of time and resources - a statement was put out which read: "Mr Cheika and the Australian Rugby Union cooperated with the investigation, which has now been completed.

"'In light of Mr Cheika's explanations of his conduct, his clear understanding of the need to protect and promote the interests of the sport, and his open apology for any offence caused, the Disciplinary Officer for the Autumn Internationals (in consultation with World Rugby) has decided not to pursue any disciplinary proceedings against Mr Cheika."

It is quite extraordinary. Cheika can harangue World Rugby officials on the sidelines. He can mouth "f---ing cheats" when decisions go against him. He can have spats with members of the public as he leaves his seat. He can put his face in his hands in mock derision of the officials, an action risibly aped by Pat Molihan, the silver-haired toady and old school friend, sitting next to him.

All of that is OK, because Cheika has now apologised. But of course it is not OK for several reasons. The absolutely fundamental reason why it is not OK is because it encourages similar behaviour from Cheika's players. They obviously think that if the coach can sit there swearing and mouthing off at the ref, then they can also argue with every decision that they do not agree with.

And that of course is exactly what happened during last weekend's game. When Australia appeared to score their opening try, O'Keeffe was suspicious that Michael Hooper was offside. The New Zealand ref went through a quite proper check procedure with his TMO who agreed with O'Keeffe that "No 7 was clearly offside". They then made the correct decision to disallow the try. The laws of the game couldn't be clearer.

Cheika then went off on one. He went into his routine of mock applause and mouthed all sorts of obscenities including the fatal "f---ing cheat." I remember Dylan Hartley being sent off in a cup final and missing a Lions tour for saying the same thing. I remember Yoann Maestri receiving a massive fine for accusing officials of an anglo saxon conspiracy of cheating, an accusation not without slight merit.

Cheika's behaviour triggered an avalanche of dissent from his team. When Australia were defending on their line, Hooper was picked up by the touch judge for repeated offsides. O'Keeffe called him over and Hooper pretended not to hear. When the captain finally came over and was shown the yellow card, Hooper shook his head in disbelief and smiled in mockery of the ref's decision.

When Kurtley Beale was shown a yellow card he was just as bad, arguing "no, but", shaking his head and smiling derisively. Will Genia was going off at half-time. The players get permission to do this from their coach. And that is why the decision not to sanction Cheika was so stupid and negligent.

The All Blacks players are nothing like as bad as the Aussies, but they too have started to question more and more decisions. But then Steve Hansen frequently has a sly dig at officials. So the more Whitelocks we get as captain, the better, because those boys have a bit of dignity about them.

It was worrying to see Ash Dixon on the Maori tour argue with almost every decision that went against his team and so it is about time refs started marching players 10 metres backwards at the first sign of lip. How glorious it was to see that happen in the rugby league quarterfinal between the Kiwis and Fiji. And how noticeable it is that the refs in league just do not receive the same level of dissent as the union officials.

It was particularly shameful of World Rugby not to step in at this moment in time, because of the number of young referees they have put out in the November internationals for future development. And there are good signs. Matthew Carley was exceptional in the game between the All Blacks and Scotland and O'Keeffe did well to hold his ground in very difficult circumstances at Twickenham. These young refs need backing.

The passivity is rendered even more extraordinary by the fact that Cheika does not just have previous, he has a lot of it. This is an extract from the written finding of New Zealand's Nigel Hampton, QC, in 2014, after Cheika was charged with abusing a cameraman.

"I do not regard Mr Cheika to be a first time offender and it would be farcical to disregard other matters over the past nine years, including proven misconduct allegations from his time as a professional coach in Europe and a warning from Sanzaar during the 2013 Super Rugby season.

"This matter bears a number of striking similarities with past instances, particularly the use of foul and abusive language towards those charged with running a match and the propensity of Mr Cheika to behave in this manner is disturbing.

"Respect is a core value of rugby and there must be general deterrents in place to prevent any abuse of match officials and persons charged with running the game."

During that hearing Hampton was also appalled by the fact that witnesses appearing on Cheika's behalf were fabricating evidence. It beggars belief that no action has been taken on this occasion, but have "farcically" disregarded other matters. Their failure to take action has undermined referees in every rugby country in the world..

The implication is that respect is no longer a core value of rugby. Coaches have licence to abuse refs with impunity. And so Ben O'Keeffe, I wish you well and thank you for the job that you are prepared to do. But you're on your own, son.