I agree with your ranking points comment and most of what you said about the referee, but how can you say he dived football style? Just before in the same attack the Kiwis had illegally brought down the French maul two yards from the line after it had battered its way for about twenty yards to the Kiwi line.Then after France had passed the ball across the field there was the blatant obstruction. The referee was correct in his decision. The Kiwis should think themselves lucky that he didn't give a penalty try for the earlier offence. Good article on the whole though.

The referee made some tough calls but got most right. I agree with the above post re the maul, and although the yellow was harsh, the penalty was not. Sounds like this piece is tinged with sour grapes.

You have to remember how much rugby means to us New Zealanders. I am first to admit that we lacked the ability to organise some late drop kick attempts from inside the French 22 in the last 10 minutes! Four more years!

I like your ranking points idea, it does seem strange that teams like Scotland, Fiji and, frankly, Argentina are able to qualify for one semi final path whilst the route to the other semi is populated by much bigger beasts. The 2 groups of four teams were, in my opinion, very lopsided. But would such an imaginative approach mitigate against the participation of the "minnows" such as Portugal and Georgia who, it has been generally acknowledged, were one of the great successes of this tournament?

I like your ranking points idea, it does seem strange that teams like Scotland, Fiji and, frankly, Argentina are able to qualify for one semi final path whilst the route to the other semi is populated by much bigger beasts. The 2 groups of four teams were, in my opinion, very lopsided. But would such an imaginative approach mitigate against the participation of the "minnows" such as Portugal and Georgia who, it has been generally acknowledged, were one of the great successes of this tournament?

You missed the other big mistake by Wayne Barnes. He signalled a penalty advantage to the All Blacks (which also appeared on the monitor at the ground), Luke McAlister then attempted the drop-goal knowing that if he missed, that he would also get a penalty for a shot at goal. Once the drop-goal went wide, Barnes informed players that the advantage was over. Truly incredible! Whats more the IRB have refused to apologise to the ABs/NZRFU.