The worst All Blacks display of 2007 - and the referee wasn't so hot, either

Am I the only one who saw what happened to Serge Betsen. He was not injured in a tackle but was punched by a forward as he tried to get up. Perhaps the sin binning wasnt correst but maybe the all Blacks should have had only Fourteen players from the third minute.

Sorry bud but you're smokin something , Betsen was clearly knocked out by one of his own team mates whose knee knocked him after the tackle he made

I think the refs calls were the cause of the loss for New Zealand. There was no physical way McAlister could have avoided bumping into Jauzion and he also had every right to be where he was. This sin binning was crucial. The missed forward pass was another critical mistake. I would have assumed three sets of eyes would have been enough to see a blatantly forward pass but obviously not. And another very annoying point came with the All Blacks hard on the attack in the dying moments and the French were using their hands in the ruck. It was right in front of the touch judge who chose to ignore it. Pretty disgusting effort all around. The All Blacks were beaten by a good rugby team assisted by a talented but far too inexperienced referee.

Surely this isn't the same Mr Hamish McBrearty who wrote the following article, so prominently displayed at the All Blacks official site? http://www.allblacks.com/index.cfm?layout=dis playFanStory&newsArticle=6972 I must say the huge gulf between those Mighty southern hemisphere giants and the poor lost souls of the north does look wide this evening, but not in the direction you seemed to think. The bottom line is that rugby isn't soccer. Bad teams don't fluke wins over good ones. Maybe you could argue the All Blacks should have won tonight, but the fact is there was very little to choose between the two sides. And remember this match was played at a neutral venue so neither side could claim France won it due to playing at home. Australia versus England provided yet another example that, when the northern sides get it right, there really isn't much to choose between them and the tri-nations sides. On any given day, any team can win. And even the most ardent Kiwis now have to admit that they aren't

Hi Mac, I thought that was the case as well until I slow mod the second or third ITV replay on the DVD playback. This clearly shows Betsen starting to rise to his feet until flattened by a sly punch. As for smoking I think the French forwards may have been in the second half, hehehe. regards.

Clearly knocked out but own teams knee. Perhaps you were "smoking" the same thing as the referee. All 3 refs in this game need to be sacked and replaced with people with EYES. Anyone could see the foward pass. Corrupt? unlikely but maybe

Dont smoke by the way, Anyone could see the forward pass ???? Obviously the ref didnt. The reruns of the early incident in slow mo clearly show Betsen being punched as he starts to rise. No point in debating the facts until you study the evidence, it was second or third replay that follows it through. And there's me always thinking it was the Poms were the whingers.

Although France and England deserved to win it just shows in both quarter finals that rugby is now more of a lottery than a contest between 2 teams, northern and southern hemisphere refs seem to have different rule books by which they follow. The All Blacks loss clearly shows under pressure on the biggest stage there very weak they had there time off rugby got faster and fitter but what lacks is there doesnt seem to be much up stairs i think they need to use the services of someone like Wayne Bennett (Brisbane Broncos) someone who has masterminded grand final victories with teams not expected to win i mean on paper All Blacks should never lose.

If you look *closely* at the replay, Betsen starts to sit up, and is pushed back down (by the chest) by Keith Robinson, and on his way back down he takes it in the head twice from Fabien Pelous, once from each knee. It's definately not a punch, unless you punch with the palm of your hand. It was just an unlucky accident.

As with every World Cup the Kiwi fans think all they have to do is show up. When will the "god given" right to win rugby games be put to bed by the arrogant all black fans? answer never. That is why you lose.

Rob, you obviously have misinterpreted enthusiasm and pride for arrogance. Rugby is the sport where a country with the population of a city gets to mix it with the big boys and do pretty well. A lot of pride is pinned to the all blacks because of this. How different this game could have been if the referees parents were not cousins, but i guess with so many people on such a small piece of dirt, in the UK everyone is cousins. Bring on 2011.

Pick a straw, any straw. I can not believe you Kiwis are moaning about a forward pass or hands in at the ruck. That from a team that plays "flat line Rugby" is an absolute joke. As for hands in or lying in, have a little watch of the game again and your very own Richie Mc. You simply dont like people beating you at your own game. Oh, and yes I am a winging Pomme.

It is a sad day for the game of rugby. The All Blacks scored more legitimate points than France and that was even with the illegitimate sinbinning of McCallister. To refer to NZers as whingers shows what little passion you have for the game. Remember the hand of God.

Final Score - All Blacks 18, Referee 17, France 3.

the ref is too young for this kind of rugby match, congradulation to france, but all these 3 offials are very inexperience, they should have brought in their classes so they can officiate the game well. The offside defence all the time, and the forward pass cause this upset, but to the abs, forget the past, its gone forever, and look up for the next challenge.

[quote]As with every World Cup the Kiwi fans think all they have to do is show up. When will the "god given" right to win rugby games be put to bed by the arrogant all black fans? answer never. That is why you lose.[/quote] And this sort of comment is why the rest of the world hate the english. We all know you invented the game, but why is it your team cant grasp the concept anymore? I look forward to the French once again beating the english next weekend as they have done through time. And just before the Northern countries start patting themselves on the back, South Africa still needs to be played. The day Northern Hemisphere teams dominate Southern teams is the day England beat Brazil in a football match.

"The day Northern Hemisphere teams dominate Southern teams is the day England beat Brazil in a football match" Have a nice trip home again ! And Hamish ! " in fact it would not be a surprise to find all four semi-finalists from south of the Equator " Great piece of self destruction. ! " What can the Northern Hemisphere teams do about this? At this year's tournament, very little " errrm....beat both Australia nd New Zealand, in the world cup.....Again. Thing is. Maybe you shouldnt be so ultra confident all the time, and accept the world cup as your god given right. When the going got tough. Both Australia and New Zealand couldnt come up with the goods....Nice try fellas....maybe work on the scrums a little instead of the hype eh ?

"The day Northern Hemisphere teams dominate Southern teams is the day England beat Brazil in a football match." I know you lot are pretty think but havent you got a rather short memory. Do I not recall England winning the last world cup. How dominant do they need to be? "And this sort of comment is why the rest of the world hate the english" Good. You hate what you fear most. Losers....

Hey can you embed an excuse calculator into this site......Ive lost count of the excuses Hamish comes up with.....they are almost on a par with his explanations of how the southern hemisphere are the only teams that will make the semi finals. Lets see... 1. Referee 2. officials...all three 3. Forward Passes 4. Sin Binning etc etc etc. Hows the hangover Hamish ?

It seems all comments here are very one eyed, not one see's the defeat of the AB's can be laid at the feet of one player in particular. Luke McAllister, with that stupid off the ball play and his subsequent sin bin , tha French had the opportunity it wanted, play the A'B'S with the added advantage of an extra player. Shame on Luke, a "Proffesional" highly paid member of the team, losing the world cup single handedly.

How can you possibly say McAllister's yellow card was unjustified? that was unsportsmanlike behaviour at its worse!!! As for the ref, think about : -all the times Carter remained behind the French whenever they tried to extract the ball and got away with it -that comical scrum when the Black ran around in order to give the appearance of a turned scrum and the referee just asked for another scrum -that ball that went out 40 metres from the NZ goal line and all refs missed ... Errors went both ways yesterday. To be honest the best team may not have won, but at least, the French showed passion!

Yep, Betsen was definitely struck to the right temple by the lower left leg of one his team mates as can be clearly seen in the replay, as was screened on TV3 in New Zealand. So, to insinuate that the All Blacks 'deserved' to be down for an incident for which the outcome of 'collateral damage' by Betsen's own is just plain ignorant.

Cryil, re watch the game Mcallister was about to run for the ball, Jauzion needs to check his eyesight with such a questionable tactic, keep such as those them on the soccer field mate and not this great sport called rugby. For three refs to miss that forward pass was completely ridicules, the chance that they did not see it is possible as I can’t find the proof that the hand off was in their visual range, given that fair enough, but if there is evidence that they ignored it or did not process it…..??

I was thoroughly disgusted when watching this game. All Black players being held before receiving the ball. Offsides going unanswered. A scum because the ref wasn't sure if there had been a forward pass (against the All-Blacks). McAlister being sent off because a French player ran into him. And finally, the winning try in the game being the direct result of a forward pass. I agree, the Al Blacks didn't play their best game. However, the All Blacks were going up against some seriously ridiculous odds. Much as everyone loves to talk about the northern hemisphere vs. southern hemisphere in rugby, the competition holds absolutely no integrity with reffing like this. Games like this are just a great big farce. The worst bit is, all the official media aren't supposed to say anything about the reffing. Does this mean we can expect this sort of crap time and time again without anyone being held responsible?