Letting viewers vote on man of the match selections during World Cup games risks turning the tournament into an Australian Idol-like popularity contest, an Australian rugby great says.
Mark Ella, considered one of the greatest flyhalfs in Australian history, said man of the match deliberations should be left to the experts, instead of viewers, who could hijack the voting process.
"The public usually knows (who are the best performers) as well as the experts," Ella said.
"The trouble is that it becomes almost like Australian Idol or Dancing With the Stars, if I know my husband or brother or cousin is playing for Australia I'm going to get everybody on board and vote for him whether he's the best player or not."
This is the first Rugby World Cup in which voting on the accolade has been opened to the public.
It follows a decision made for the FIFA World Cup last year to hand the responsibility solely to viewers and fans.
But unlike the football tournament, fan votes here - collected online or through the Rugby World Cup official app - can have a maximum one-third weighting.
The selections made by world-feed commentators count for two-thirds of the decision.
Eyebrows were raised after James Horwill was named man of the match during Australia's first-round victory over Italy, and Irish lock Paul O'Connell received the gong in his team's game against Ireland.
But so far fans' choices appear to be having little influence over the commentators.
James O'Connor was the viewers' pick with 23 per cent of the vote, followed by Quade Cooper and Italy's Fabio Semenzato. Horwill did not make the top three.
Horwill himself was surprised he was chosen ahead of the likes of Quade Cooper, Digby Ioane and Radike Samo, tweeting after the match: "Didn't expect to get the MOM (man of the match). Thought a few other boys could have got it. Very grateful".
Ireland supporters's bemusement in New Plymouth was validated by the following assessment in The Guardian newspaper: "It was hard to credit how (USA captain Todd) Clever was beaten to the man of the match award by Paul O'Connell.
"(Coach Eddie) O'Sullivan used Clever as an extra midfielder to clutter the space for Ireland and, when he was not doing that, the flanker was in the middle of the Irish ruck, getting himself all over the ball."
Tommy Bowe was the number one player according to viewers, Clever was second and O'Connell was third pick.
An IRB spokesman said tournament organisers were "very happy" with the process they had settled on.
Ella said it was difficult to pick one stand-out from the Wallabies' match but Horwill was not it.
"I mean no disrespect to Horwill or to O'Connell but I didn't think either of them were man of the matches either," he said.
"I understand what they're trying to do but is it the right thing."
Melbourne Rebels hooker and former Wallaby Adam Freier said it was important to let rugby fans interact with the biggest tournament of their favourite sport.
"At its early stage I don't have a problem with it," the Fairfax columnist said.
"Sport essentially is governed by the fans. They deserve the right to have their say."
Freier, who also writes for RugbyHeaven, said the ideal balance would be to have a viewers' choice award and a separate man of the match award. He said Ella's worst-case scenario would not serve some players.
"It is unfortunate if it becomes a revenue-raising tool as in some other popularity contest we see on TV ... it's not a good sign for any front-rower unless scrummaging becomes cool."
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