A BELATED apology for his "inappropriate and offensive" conduct after last Saturday's World Cup final loss to New Zealand may not be enough to save Ricky Stuart's job as Kangaroos coach.

After six days of damaging headlines that have detracted from the success of the tournament, which returned a $5 million profit for the development of the game internationally, Stuart responded yesterday to allegations he had "verbally abused and physically and aggressively intimidated" referee Ashley Klein and a leading English official as they were checking out of their Brisbane hotel last Sunday.

The incident followed Stuart's tirade against ARL chief executive Geoff Carr on the ground in which he alleged the Kangaroos were the victims of a conspiracy.

In a statement issued by his manager John Fordham, Stuart said the emotion that set in following Australia's 34-20 loss "had not subsided by the next morning" when he is alleged to have "shoulder-charged" British referees' boss Stuart Cummings and called Klein a "f---ing cheat" and "the c--- who cost us the World Cup" in the foyer of the Holiday Inn.

Fordham said Stuart had emailed an apology to Cummings and Klein and was attempting to contact them personally.

"It's a hard thing for me to admit, but I was certainly not in control of my emotions at the time and acted irresponsibly and irrationally. But that's not an excuse for my behaviour," Stuart wrote in the email to the pair.

Describing his conduct as "inappropriate and offensive", Stuart said losing control in the manner he did was "something for which I now deeply regret".

"Still on my mind were the disappointed faces of my players who had worked so hard during the tournament," he said.

Despite Stuart's admission, Fordham indicated the Australian coach had no intention of standing down - meaning it would be up to the ARL directors to sack him if they felt he should go.

An investigation on behalf of the World Cup organisers is continuing and Rob Weber SC is due to deliver his report by the end of next week.

However, the Herald was told last night ARL officials were mindful of the damage Stuart's actions have caused, particularly among junior refereeing ranks, and the matter will be referred to a board meeting on December 9 in Brisbane.

Support that had initially appeared to be split on interstate lines now appears to be swinging against Stuart, and his apology to Klein and Cummings is considered by many people to be too little too late and a desperate bid by the Cronulla coach to save his national job. It was also widely noted that he had not issued a public apology, and the statement released did not contain the word "sorry" but merely mentioned he had sent separate apologies to Klein and Cummings.

"The press release tells you that he apologised," Fordham said. "That statement is a summary of what he has said in his letters. It makes it pretty clear he has apologised."

Asked about the push for Stuart to resign, Fordham said: "I don't care about that. The issues are Ricky has apologised. He is required to provide a statement to an independent investigator, which he will do next week. End of story."

Former Rugby Football League chief executive Maurice Lindsay, who described himself as a mate of Stuart's and Fordham's, described the coach's actions as "inexcusable".

"I do know Ricky and I do like Ricky so it's always difficult to be critical of someone you like but I was deeply disappointed by what he did," Lindsay told the Herald.

"The two phrases that stick in my mind are 'cop it sweet' and 'fair go', and Ricky did not cop it sweet.

"You can go through every game of rugby league since 1895 and find mistakes but I thought Klein had a brilliant game. There was no question in my mind that New Zealand deserved to win. I don't think it was a set-up or anything like that. That's a nonsense.

"To have abused Klein and pushed Cummings is something that he has got to regret and I hope he does because it's not the Australian way."

NSWRL Referees' Association chairman Dennis Spagarino yesterday said he supported the ARL's stance so far, suggesting he wished for some sanctioning to be levelled against the embattled coach.

"There's been an incident, and it's going to be investigated," Spagarino said.

"Let's see what happens. The referees' association, we're quite confident, and I'm quite confident, that the process is above board, and the right result will come out of it."