Richie McCaw is a cheat. There's nothing new in that allegation, the only surprise is it took the English media a week in the company of the All Blacks to regurgitate it.
After belittling the haka in their annual tirade, it was simply a matter of time before the poisoned pens were aimed at the All Blacks captain.
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The caustic English media did themselves and their team a disservice by only bringing it out after their latest defeat, rather than in the run-up to the Twickenham encounter to get match officials thinking.
In the end, McCaw shone as bright as ever in his remarkable career, engineering another All Blacks comeback to secure their fourth win over England this year. He even got the man of the match award.
And, according to The Guardian writer Andy Bull, that's when the trouble started.
"When it was all over, and England had lost again, the crowd broke out into boos, jeers and hoots," Bull wrote after watching the game at Twickenham.
"It was not England they were upset with, far from it, or even the referee, Nigel Owens, though they had howled in protest at some of his decisions.
"The chorus of catcalls was aimed at Richie McCaw, who had just been named as the man of the match."
He likened it to "another great player English fans love to hate", Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting, who was booed during the 2009 Ashes series.
"But the boos are, in a perverse way, a fine tribute to the man's work. And, besides, it is all water off McCaw's black-shirted back. Music to the ears, mate. If he was not busy irritating 80,000 English fans, he would not be doing his job," Bull wrote in The Guardian.
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In a statement echoing sentiments aired often before in Australia and South Africa, the Guardian suggested that the most remarkable record McCaw had achieved in a stellar 13-year test career where he has won everything the game has to offer is "that he has been shown only two yellow cards".
"McCaw is a master thief, always evading justice," argued Bull.
"He was caught out once on Saturday, when Owens penalised him in the last minute of the first half. But there was so much more he seemed somehow to get away with - subtle things like the stray flailing arm that checked Semesa Rokoduguni as he burst away from a tackle.
"Well, McCaw was just trying to get his balance back, wasn't he? And if he happened to catch Rokoduguni as he did it, what fault was that of his?"
Bull did pay tribute to McCaw's ability to adapt his game to suit situations and referees rather than complaining about opposition as is the captain's right.
"He is like a lawyer who understands the case depends more on the whims of the judge than it does on the letter of the law."
McCaw and his men have now headed north of the border to Scotland and a land which only just remains under British rule.
It will be interesting to see how the Scots react to McCaw. Traditionally there is far more respect for the All Blacks there, probably something to do with the fact that they have never beaten them.
That's in contrast to the English scribes who seem to suffer the same frustrations as their team and their tragic record for a nation that has so many resources in finances and playing numbers against the world champion colonials, led so astutely by McCaw.
There is some end in sight for their misery though, a point acknowledged by Bull in signing off his piece in The Guardian.
"McCaw will be back at Twickenham next year, for the World Cup. They may even be the final games of his career.
"If that is the case, if he does call it quits, then England's fans will, surely, feel able to offer this extraordinary player all the ovations he deserves, secure in the knowledge they will never have to see him cheat them, or beat them, ever again."
But rest assured New Zealanders, when McCaw is gone, attentions will simply turn to a new All Blacks target, just as they did before Richie roared when questions were asked of the likes of Jamie Joseph, Sean Fitzpatrick and even Sir Colin Meads.
If you can't beat 'em, then bleat 'em.
