THE actions of Delon Armitage when scoring the try that won the Heineken Cup for Toulon were inexcusable.

The England full-back, who has a long list of misdemeanors, waved goodbye to Clermont’s fly-half Brock James while racing over the whitewash in Dublin.

It was needless showboating, the sort of action that might be termed ‘box office’ in America where NFL players dance into the end zone while holding out the football to those chasing them.

Armitage was just lucky that his shanked clearance in the closing stages didn’t lead to a Clermont match-winner, one which would have been celebrated by those of us that were no longer neutral viewers of an all-French final.

When talking about rugby’s code of conduct – something often done by those that are looking down their nose at football – it is possible to conveniently forget about past taunts and transgressions.

But unsightly acts like players haranguing referees and ruffling the hair of opponents who have given away penalties have unquestionably crept into the game.

It is arrogance masking as sledging, but such pomposity is not confined to the pitch.

While the British and Irish Lions are in Australia, Wales tour Japan next month. A caretaker coach will take a makeshift squad, minus 15 Lions and a number of rested seniors, to play two Tests in Osaka and Tokyo.

It has led many to ponder whether caps should be awarded.

Of course they should.

The Cherry Blossoms are a bona fide Test-playing nation that will be at the next World Cup and it’s a real possibility that they will give a weakened Wales a real scare.

This is no Barbarians game and caps are not being dished out to cynically sell tickets.

Eddie Jones’ Japan players will be well prepared, not well oiled after a week of team-building like the Baa Baas.

People who question the merits of awarding caps are, just like Armitage, showing a lack of respect.

We can’t tut at those that showboat on the field when big rugby nations show the same disdain for ‘smaller’ countries.

Fiji sent a request to New Zealand asking them to head to Suva to play a commemorative Test for their 100th anniversary.

The response? The All Blacks are too busy (though the answer may have been different had they been offered a cheque of the size they receive for autumn internationals).

There is an ‘us and them’ attitude in rugby that has previously scuppered the likes of Samoa and Tonga at World Cups courtesy of hectic schedules, something that has thankfully been addressed for England 2015.

But we should be spreading the game, something that sevens does admirably.

I question the value of the format, it simply should not be in the Olympics and the International Rugby Board circuit consists of players that can’t hack it at the top level.

But it does engage with smaller nations, allowing the likes of Kenya and Portugal to ruffle a few feathers.

When it comes to the 15-man game we cannot be snobby and there is a real appetite for rugby in Japan, as was shown by the sizeable media contingent that headed for the Millennium Stadium in 2007.

It is great that Wales are touring in the Far East, just like it was admirable that Scotland headed to Fiji last summer.

Too often such trips, or even one-off Tests, are seen as beneath the big guns.

Yes, Armitage’s actions were wrong but he is far from the only one that acts with arrogance in rugby.