All Blacks centre Sonny Bill Williams has signed a one-year contract extension with the NZRU © Getty Images

Duncan Johnstone of The Dominion Post believes that Sonny Bill Williams' decision to move to Hamilton makes sense for all concerned.

"It's good to see Sonny Bill Williams is staying in New Zealand. And it's just as good to see him going to play for the Chiefs.

"The last thing New Zealand's Super Rugby franchises needed was a stacking of talent at the Blues, his other touted destination in recent times.

"With Piri Weepu and Ma'a Nonu having moved north from the Hurricanes to the Blues, Williams would have been an absolute luxury there.

"He might even have found himself fighting for playing time like he has over the past three months with the All Blacks. He will be guaranteed his jersey at the Chiefs."

Wallabies boss Robbie Deans needs to sort out his backroom staff, writes Bret Harris in The Australian.

"When Robbie Deans was appointed Wallabies head coach in 2008, the national team moved towards a leaner and meaner coaching staff.

"The previous head coach John Connolly had three assistants - Michael Foley (forwards), Scott Johnson (attack) and John Muggleton (defence).

"Deans inherited Foley and added former Wallabies backrower Jim Williams as his second assistant. But over the past three years, Deans' coaching staff has increased to five assistants - Williams, Patricio Noriega (scrum), Phil Blake (skills and defence), David Nucifora (coaching co-ordinator) and Bram van Straaten (goal-kicking).

"Even though van Straaten is a consultant, rather than a full-time member of the staff, the coaching crew has clearly grown, albeit incrementally."

Dylan Cleaver of the New Zealand Herald wonders what the future holds for the outgoing All Blacks boss after his Rugby World Cup success.

"Graham Henry once said that the simple act of dropping a fishing line over the side of a boat was the only thing that enabled him to forget about rugby.

"As he switches into hunter-gatherer mode on the Hauraki Gulf, he might find it harder than usual to switch off. As a rugby coach he is sated, but as a professional he wants more.

"Not for him the simple life - he wants a job, he's just not sure what."

Writing in the Irish Independent, Hugh Farrelly assess the state of play in the RaboDirect PRO12 from an Irish perspective.

"Although the provinces had six rounds of Pro12 action under their belts going into last weekend, there was a definite sense of the season cranking up a notch with the return to action of the bulk of Ireland's World Cup squad.

"It goes up another gear this weekend when World Cup bonding exercises will be placed to one side as the league provides the platform for Ireland's provinces to renew ancient rivalries. Leinster-Munster at a near-full Lansdowne Road will inevitably attract top billing, but the meeting of Ulster and Connacht is also extremely significant for Ireland management, and then it is full steam ahead into another Heineken Cup odyssey which, for the first time, incorporates all four provinces.

"We talked on Saturday about the provincial role in Irish rugby's recovery from the World Cup hangover, so how did it go?"

Johnny Watterson of the Irish Times bemoans the unfair treatment of rugby's so-called lesser nations during the Rugby World Cup.

"Remember Dora Ratjen, the German athlete who competed in the 1936 Olympics in the high jump? Not much of a story really, except for one thing: Dora was actually Hermann. Either short of friends or terrifyingly ambitious, Herr Hermann was coerced by the Hitler Youth into tightly binding his genitals and competing against women.

"For some people it may have started out with hiding in the bushes while the rest of the team were running warm up laps. For others it was catching a ride during the pre-season road run that happened to have a two-mile stretch along the route of the local bus.

"Cheating in sport has always been fun."

Writing in the New Zealand Herald, former All Black Richard Loe says Steve Hansen is the man to replace outgoing All Blacks coach Graham Henry

I would be keen to use Graham Henry in the future - but not as some sort of "director of rugby" where he would oversee the new All Black coach and new selection panel.

Better instead to use him with coaches who need the help - like Pat Lam and Mark Hammett. Henry and Lam are already close and he has ties with the Blues from previous years. Hammett's problems with the Hurricanes made headlines this year and, with only Victor Vito, Cory Jane and Conrad Smith left from their star-studded line-up, he clearly needs help.

Steve Hansen is the obvious choice as the next All Black coach but his pick of running mates is vital. I don't think it's all that smart having Henry overlooking the trio that many feel is weak - Hansen, former Chiefs coach Ian Foster and All Black kicking coach Mick Byrne. Surely it's better to have a strong panel in its own right.

Steve Hansen is the clear favourite to replace Graham Henry as All Blacks coach © Getty Images

Bath prop David Flatman, in the Independent on Sunday, marvels at the staying powers of international players as they return to club action after the World Cup.

"Despite the omnipresence of tangible perspective, I am actually staggered by how little rugby players moan these days. I remember finishing my first season with Saracens in 1999 – yes, your maths are correct and I was 12 years old – and being told we all had six weeks off.

"And although they never, ever seem to moan, I don't know how the current crop of international players do it. As our domestic season drew to a close last May we were given a few weeks to rest, but accompanying that news was a folder full of physical targets to be achieved before presenting ourselves for boot camp."

Rugby has slipped into the gutter in the professional era, writes Neil Francis in the Irish Independent

"Character is like a tree and reputation its shadow, the shadow is what we think of it, the tree is the real thing - Abraham Lincoln

"What we are about here is charting the slow, imperceptible erosion of standards, the unambiguous degeneracy of the game. Not the game itself but the people who play it.

"When money comes, empirical evidence suggests that the constitutional standards enjoyed and employed by players deteriorate.

"I was quite happy to endure the slow death of a thousand cuts. Events from the 2007 RWC to the one just past suggest that we will be lucky to get 100.

"On balance, most of the players we have seen in that period have been men of character, integrity and honesty possessed of compassion, a grounded conscience and a working moral compass -- all inherently decent men.

"My problem is that the rotten one per cent has grown from a tiny minority to an uncomfortably prominent subsection and show no signs of disappearing any time soon."

In the New Zealand Herald, Paul Gregor hails the fulfilment of talent after Jerome Kaino's influential role in the All Blacks' World Cup triumph.

Just as there were plenty of people who wondered whether New Zealand would ever win another World Cup, so many feared that Jerome Kaino would flicker, then fade.

He's been a great player in waiting since he won the IRB Under-21 Player of the Year in 2004. That was the year he was taken on tour with the All Blacks, despite the fact he was yet to play Super Rugby.

He went for the experience, to be indoctrinated in the ways of the national team, because coach Graham Henry could see that Kaino was going to be spending a considerable period of his future in the test arena.

But the path that Henry and others felt Kaino would follow suddenly became hard to find. From looking sensational for the All Blacks against the Barbarians in 2004, Kaino soon became lost.

Richie McCaw lifts the Rugby World Cup for New Zealand © Getty Images

Writing in the New Zealand Herald Wynne Gray looks into the future and imagines a World Cup without Richie McCaw, and sees a young contender coming into view.

"As All Black captain Richie McCaw saunters away for some surgery, gliding and downtime after the World Cup glories, the selectors will ponder how best to safeguard his future.

"He's heading towards his 31st birthday and while he remains near the apex of global stars in his openside flanker role, McCaw's best years are not in front of him.

"His rugby smarts and indomitable spirit suggest McCaw can stay at his current prime level of performance for a few seasons yet. Surgery on his right foot should sort out the pain which inhibited his training during the World Cup and would have lowered a lesser athlete.

"But seeing young Crusaders' flanker Matt Todd at training during the World Cup raised the interest on a variety of fronts."

Allan Massie, in the Scotsman, continues the defence of officials and claims their job is harder than ever with the all-seeing eyes of modern technology.

"It will be a shame if this World Cup, with its splendid final, is remembered chiefly for arguments over the refereeing.

"International referees must, of course, be subject to criticism. They are all now professionals, and quite well-paid ones. On the other hand, we should all recognise that the laws of rugby are so confoundedly complicated, with so many possible penalty offences, that it is impossible that referees should not make some mistakes.

"If these seem more frequent than they used to, this is probably because TV replays, in real time and slow motion, mean that the referee’s decisions are scrutinised more intensely than ever."

An editorial piece in the New Zealand Herald says it is time to stop demonising referees following the All Blacks World Cup triumph.

"Listening to reaction from France to the World Cup final, we wince. Did we sound like this four years ago? Yes, sadly.

"We almost convinced ourselves the All Blacks lost to France because the referee missed a forward pass. Well, he also sin-binned our most penetrative player that day but a team with a man short can still be competitive, as Wales proved against France at this World Cup.

"Did we hear Welsh fans blame the ref? Did we ever. If Wales had to blame someone that day it was their goalkicker, just as the All Blacks of 2007 were to blame for their own demise. The referee is one of many variables teams must contend with.

"The rules of the game are so numerous and some so open to subjective judgment that interpretations are bound to vary.

"All that can be said with certainty is that the international referee is not partisan. He is a professional these days, with pride in his performance and the need to retain the respect of his peers."

The Irish Independent's Hugh Farrelly argues that Ireland must start planning for the future and the 2015 World Cup following the disappointments of New Zealand.

"With the core of the Ireland squad -- the oldest at the World Cup -- unlikely to be around for England 2015, now is the time for younger provincial players to put their hands up.

"The Six Nations is three months away but with Wales and France carrying extra confidence after their World Cup achievements and England driven by the desire to prove their critics wrong, it is shaping up to be one of the most competitive of all.

"Ireland cannot go into that tournament with any World Cup exit residue if they are to prosper in that company.

"The hangover cure starts now -- and it starts with the provinces."

New Zealand and Australia supporters stand along side each other © Getty Images

Shaun Edwards, in his column for the Guardian, believes England should take notes from how New Zealand hosted the tournament as they look to put on the show-piece tournament in four years time.

"Now that the memory is still fresh and the jet lag has faded, it seems worthwhile looking four years down the road to the next World Cup and how England might be thinking of matching the past two months in New Zealand. Matching? Actually, that's a moot point. Finding another route might be a better question.

This was my first World Cup, so I have little with which to compare New Zealand 2011. However, I have spoken to plenty who have been to others and the universal judgment is that while it might not have been the best yet, it was one huge success. For those organising England 2015, the bar has been set pretty high."

Jim Hopkins, of the New Zealand Herald, reflects on his experience at the World Cup final.

"One minute, I was sitting there, trying to think of clever things to write, the next I was being asked a completely unexpected question. "Would you like to go to the game?" What? "Would you like to go to the game. I've got some tickets. Would you like one?" Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!!!!

Sir, you are a gentleman (and he is, in every sense). That's unbelievably generous. Of course I'd love to go to the game. You'd have to be dead not to. And, even then, you'd get yourself dug up if it meant you could be there."

Simon Turnbull, of the Independent, talks to Geordan Murphy about Leicester's poor form and their plan to get back to the top of the table.

"Geordan Murphy is standing in the clubhouse at Topps Park, the home of Oadby Town Football Club, running his eye over a list of Leicester Tigers' results from the 1997-98 Premiership season in a dog-eared copy of the Playfair Rugby Union Annual. "Er, I think I played in that one, Newcastle at home," the Irish full-back says, still muddied from a morning shift across the road at Oval Park, Leicester's training ground. "I don't really know, to be honest."

It is 15 seasons since the man from Co Kildare was first blooded as a cub full-back for the Tigers. The mercurial Murphy has played so many games for Leicester (274 in all competitions, 177 in the Premiership) that he can perhaps be excused for not being able to pinpoint the first."

The Daily Mail talks to Matt Dawson, Dewi Morris, Geoff Cooke and Jeff Probyn about where England should go next.

"With the 2015 Rugby World Cup being staged in England, the pressure is on the hosts to produce a team capable of emulating Sir Clive Woodward’s 2003 winners rather than Martin Johnson’s undisciplined side of 2011.

But what’s the answer? Sportsmail asks four men who have decades of experience managing or playing for England."

The scrum is one area of Moore's concerns © Getty Images

Brian Moore, in his column for the Daily Telegraph, gives his musings on the World Cup just gone and lessons to be learnt ahead of 2015.

"The 2011 Rugby World Cup will be hailed as significant in years to come for many reasons, and some of the most important do not concern the quality of the rugby, even though, overall, it was the highest ever produced.

Playing standards among the lower-ranked teams were comfortably better than in any other tournament, even though there were only one or two shocks, like Tonga’s win over France.

Nearly every team produced at least one performance that was genuinely praiseworthy when their rank, resources and expectations were taken into account. Unfortunately, England were one of the few who did not do so and it is a sad and wholly unacceptable fact that their Rugby World Cup presence in New Zealand will not be noted for any rugby they played."

Christopher Chang, of the New Zealand Herald, looks at the allegations of eye-gouging in the World Cup final.

"French sports newspaper L'Equipe has hit out at nzherald.co.nz, accusing it of initiating a "scandal" surrounding French captain Thierry Dusautoir and allegations of eye-gouging on Richie McCaw.

The French newspaper responded to Rugby commentator Keith Quinn's claims that the All Blacks captain was the victim of eye-gouging towards the end of the match. Quinn had told Radio New Zealand that French skipper Dusautoir, who was named IRB player of the year, was "right there" at the time of the incident."

Writing in The New Zealand Herald, Wynne Gray gives his take on the World Cup final.

"An old-style scoreboard attendant would have earned a fair swag for his work during the World Cup final at Eden Park.

Just four times, he'd have reached for the white numbers painted on to the black boards to hang on the hooks.

All Blacks 8 France 7.

Someone hitting the hallowed sports arena after being detained somewhere would surely gulp and question whether some numbers had slipped from the pegs.

Single digit scoreline. Hang on a minute, are we in the wrong hemisphere?"

Writing in The Irish Independent, Peter Bills analyses the impact of the World Cup on the less-fancied nations.

"Someone once wrote about the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, calling it a place of cascading contradictions. Who can doubt that such a description fits perfectly professional rugby?

At the completion of another World Cup, this New Zealand version of 2011 being perhaps the most successful to date, it is an appropriate moment to study rugby and its own 'cascading contradictions.'

Sixteen years since professionalism, an event that was supposed to set the sport on the road to global advancement, this latest World Cup has seen the same old suspects prosper. The last eight comprised Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina from the southern hemisphere; Ireland, Wales, France and England from the north."

Richie McCaw fulfilled his destiny by getting his hands on the Webb Ellis Cup © Getty Images

Wynne Gray of the New Zealand Herald profiles the glider enthusiast who has piloted the All Blacks to the heights of world rugby.

"National treasures are kept in museums, looked at, admired and critiqued.

"Richard Hugh McCaw is a rugby jewel, an automatic inclusion in a Sports Hall of Fame and in the top bracket of All Black greats. His place is assured. He has been the best All Black in his position for more than 100 tests since his 2001 debut.

"The 30-year-old flanker is an uncommon man, a freakish package of intellectual muscle and courage who never knows when he is beaten. It was close on Sunday and he was mighty near his limits.

"When they take all the tape off McCaw back in the dressing room, you suspect parts have to be glued back on before he heads off for the captaincy demands in the public arenas."

Writing in The Telegraph, Alan Tyers says chapeaux off to the French, £2,500 poorer in IRB fines though they may be.

"Faced with a group of large, angry men shouting and suggesting that they’re going to rip your head off, most people would shuffle not forwards, but back. Not so Les Bleus. Advancing towards the opponent might have been anathema to previous generations of French warriors but fortunately, no matter what those Kiwis might chant, sport is only a metaphorical battleground these days.

"The ideal French response might have involved close-formation shrugging, smoking in a pointed manner, farting in the Kiwis’ general direction or perhaps setting fire to a sheep and laying it on the 10-metre line, but the ridiculous namby-pambyisation of modern rugby forbids such incendiary techniques.

"Instead, the French had to content themselves with a restrained, if resolute, show of defiance. As a result, the IRB fined them. Vigorous, violent and more than capable of looking after itself, the haka enjoys unwarranted protection, like a municipal car park that has been declared a listed building, with rugby administrators treading carefully around it for fear of upsetting.... well, who exactly? It seems a bit much to plead sensitivity while singing songs of conquest and dark deeds. Nor are the New Zealand team or fans doing so: it is the feelings of unknown, probably non-existent, victims that are being defended from hurt."

Writing in The Guardian, Ian Malin argues that while 'Alfie' was the first Welshman to win 100 caps, he will remembered best for his announcement in 2009 that he is gay.

"In his final game for Wales, Gareth Thomas became their first rugby union international to reach 100 caps, an epic World Cup match against Fiji in Nantes during 2007. But it was his decision some two years later to announce to the world he is gay, so breaking a taboo in a macho sport, that brought him to the attention of the wider world.

"Thomas said back in 2009 that he did not want to be known as a gay rugby player. 'I am a rugby player and first and foremost I am a man,' he said. In the event that decision hardly caused a stir in South Wales, where his sexuality was an open secret, and the international referee Nigel Owens had also come out, but it was a pretty brave decision at the time and one of many incidents in one of Welsh rugby's most colourful life stories.

"Thomas on Tuesday made another announcement - that he is leaving rugby for good. It was less earth-shattering, given that he is now 37 years old and his rugby league club, the Crusaders, are no longer a Super League club. But he had been expected to join Wigan next season and, in the shorter term, play for Wales in theforthcoming Four Nations tournament, starting against England this weekend. Thomas, who has returned home after a stint as an ITV analyst during the rugby union World Cup, had met up with his new Wales team-mates and left them perplexed by telling them he will not be available for the tournament for "personal reasons."

In his column in The Examiner, Donal Lenihan gives his final verdict on what unfolded in New Zealand over the past six weeks.

"I am now officially parking RWC 2011.

"After three months of previews, warm-up matches, speculation, analysis, excitement, disappointment, emotion and, for eventual winners New Zealand, elation, it is time to put another World Cup odyssey to bed.

"I am penning this somewhere over the Indian Ocean flying from Sydney to Bangkok. After an amazing seven weeks spent traversing the north and south islands of New Zealand, it is only right that due credit is paid to the hosts for staging what has been a very enjoyable, rewarding and at times inspirational tournament.

"Achieved too without any great razzmatazz, just a return to the traditional values of the game when incoming tour parties were welcomed with open arms and made to feel at home. The difference this time though, was that the New Zealanders embraced and immersed themselves in the different rugby cultures and heritage of their visitors."

Peter O'Mahony steps into Alan Quinlan boots with a confidence that suggests that Munster have unearthed a captain for the future, writes Hugh Farrelly of the Irish Independent.

"September 27, 1997 - a date that inspired Munster for 10 years - the province's only home Heineken Cup defeat until Leicester did them over at Thomond Park in 2007.

"Cardiff deserved their 37-32 triumph at Musgrave Park, but one of the major plusses and talking points afterwards was the performance of Munster's 23-year-old No 7, who set the Cork ground alight with his powerful running and thirst for combat.

"That was the day Alan Quinlan announced himself on the big stage and the Tipperary man went on to install himself in the Munster Hall Of Fame with over 200 appearances for the province. His retirement last season created a void, but Munster may have found replacement in Peter O'Mahony, who has made the breakthrough at an even younger age, having only turned 22 last month."

Aaron Cruden could feature prominently for the All Blacks in four years time © Getty Images

David Leggat, of the New Zealand Herald, speculates on the make-up of New Zealand's 2015 World Cup side.

"Don't even think about Rugby World Cup 2015.

Give it time to settle. After all, it's taken a while to have the Webb Ellis Cup nestling within these shores.

So best let the nation savour this, allow the glow of victory to sweep over us before looking ahead.

But just as a matter of interest, what might the defending champions look like when the next cup starts in England four years hence?"

Mick Cleary, of the Daily Telegraph, looks at the ramifications for New Zealand after their World Cup triumph.

"It was a gloriously celebratory occasion, with crowds lined 30-40 deep as a typically Kiwi motorcade, with gaggles of players on pickup trucks rather than open-top buses, wound its way through the city centre to be greeted in Aeota Square by the Prime Minister, John Key. If ever there were a nation at peace with itself, it was New Zealand.

The final utility vehicle held Henry, his departing coach, Wayne Smith, captain Richie McCaw as well, of course, as the Webb Ellis trophy for winning the Rugby World Cup.

"It's not a huge trophy but what it means is huge," said McCaw. "We're all just blown away by this. Kiwis don't normally show emotion, but this is something else. They'll enjoy being able to say they are world champions."

Spiro Zavos, writing for the Sydney Morning Herald, provides his take on the World Cup final.

"A Rugby World Cup final is different. Here was a French side that had lost two matches in the pool rounds then played poorly in the semi-final against Wales. Against them was an All Blacks side that had not lost a game in the tournament and had played superbly to defeat a resilient Wallabies side in the semi-final.

But at the end of the final it was the All Blacks hanging on desperately, almost by their fingernails, as they looked like tumbling into the abyss of defeat. For the last half-hour of the match it looked like the All Blacks were about to write another chapter in the their chronicles of World Cup choking."

James Lawton, of the Independent, looks at Lewis Moody's retirement.

"Something extremely odd happened at the end of the World Cup of rugby that Richie McCaw and Thierry Dusautoir turned into a personal issue of epic proportions. It was that England's captain Lewis Moody, as best he could given his team's performance here, joined on the list of tournament heroes his counterparts of New Zealand and France. Well, sort of.

He did it with his resignation speech, which was hardly the platform for glory granted him at the Telstra stadium in Sydney eight years ago when as replacement for the great Richard Hill he won the line-out ball that launched the move that finished with Jonny Wilkinson's winning drop goal. But, yes, it did require a kind of heroism and Moody produced it when he became the first member of the England squad to admit publicly that arguably the worst, most unprofessional campaign of a major nation in the tournament's recent history had causes other than some destructive media campaign."

Patrick McKendry, writing for the New Zealand Herald, looks at the welcome Kieran Read got upon arrival in Christchurch.

"Kieran Read came home to Christchurch today. Hero's welcomes aren't new to him now but the reception from a city broken by 12 months of earthquakes would have put into sharp relief just what the All Blacks have achieved.

Read, who turned 26 today, went through a range of emotions after the final whistle on Sunday night, and will do so again in the Garden City. At Eden Park he jumped into the air with a two-fist salute to the crowd and was "pretty close'' to shedding a tear or two at the relief of winning the World Cup after a 24-year drought for New Zealand."

Marc Lievremont very nearly led his side to the most unexpected of World Cup victories © Getty Images

Michael Burgess of the New Zealand Herald tries to understand how a French team who were written off by almost everyone came within a whisker of producing the greatest World Cup shock of all time.

"As we were warned during the week, we probably should have expected this from the French.

"They produced a performance completely at odds with their almost all their previous tournament form, dominating possession and territory (55 per cent) and even edging the second half.

"On reflection the buildup to the final was verging on disrespectful; not only did we completely dismiss the French as worthy opponents but every mainstream newspaper gave front page coverage to the `filth factor' in the days leading up to the final."

Writing in The Guardian, Martin Kelner argues that a new documentary confirms that the Lions in 1971 really were years ahead of their time.

"Skinner and Baddiel used to do a bit on their Fantasy Football show, of blessed memory, where they played a newsreel clip of some ancient FA Cup final, consisting of a few seconds of staccato action punctuated by frequent cutaways of cheering chaps in flat caps (up until 1955 it was illegal to try to enter Wembley without a flat cap), wielding those huge old wooden-pronged rattles, which often boasted more teeth than the wielders – and usually less yellow too.

"The feature, as I recall, was called Old Football Is Rubbish, a proposition it was impossible to argue with on the basis of the evidence provided. You would not say similar about old rugby union, though, not in a week when the most enjoyable action by some distance was 40 years old. BBC Wales's elegiac memoir of the British and Irish Lions' triumphant 1971 tour of New Zealand, written and presented by my colleague Eddie Butler, acted as a delightful counterpoint to a less than vintage World Cup (I lost count of the number of times commentator Nick Mullins told us "It's not pretty," the final one appearing 10 minutes from the end of yesterday's final).

"The footage from provincial matches on the 1971 tour, generous chunks of which appeared alongside more familiar sequences from the four Test matches against the All Blacks, was pretty, but did make one wonder whether those magical black and white images of Barry John, Gareth Edwards, Mike Gibson, Gerald Davies et al in full attacking flow were just the television equivalent of what Barbra Streisand called "misty water-coloured memories" (not referring to the Lions' tour, as it happens, but to some stuff with Robert Redford in the film The Way We Were)."

Gregor Paul of the New Zealand Herald salutes the performance of New Zealand's fourth-choice fly-half.

"On a night of redemption there was also a little forgiveness. The crowd rose to their feet on 34 minutes, more really to pay tribute to the injured Aaron Cruden but there was a touch of an apology, too, as everyone lingered on their feet to ensure Stephen Donald could just about think all the fuss was for him.

"No one, least of all Donald, ever thought he would be dawdling out to play first five for the All Blacks in a World Cup final. Actually, no one wanted to believe it could ever happen and yet just as Dan Carter then Colin Slade collapsed in agony, so too did Cruden leaving the improbable and if everyone is honest, the undesirable.

"The subject of derision, most of it undeserved, since he had a meltdown in Hong Kong almost a year ago, Donald has felt the wrath of a heartless and ruthless public more than anyone ever should.

"But Eden Park was a stadium of four million. A nation was united and each and every All Black was going to have to play his part. A decision had to be made - forgive and forget, welcome Donald back and cheer him to the rafters? Or let it all out there and then - throw every toy out the pram and believe the dream was over?"

Eddie Butler of The Guardian writes that France were unrecognisable, which meant New Zealand were too - but champion sides know how to do things the hard way.

"The All Blacks had a gruelling night, which may be no way to start a celebration of their victory. But they were made to look distinctly uncomfortable by France, who were so extraordinarily unrecognisable from their shambolic selves at all other stages of the tournament that we should have known all along and beyond any reasonable doubt that it was inevitable that they would play like this. They remain contrary to the depths of their gorgeously unfathomable rugby souls, and we should treasure every mutinous sneer and sardonic shrug as indications merely of beauty ahead.

"There remains something, however, of an elephant in the room. The referee. Craig Joubert did not rise to the global occasion, only to the Kiwi event. He was not a 16th man out there, for the Eden Park crowd had already claimed that role, an expression of a nation's will that was not going to be denied.

"But Joubert was not a curious investigator here. He seemed to take the view that this was not a crime scene but a house party and it would be rude to be too probing. In short, he refereed France but not the All Blacks. These seven weeks have not been the referees' finest."

James Lawton of The Independent concludes that the French played one half brilliantly against England and then did the same in the final.

"If the World Cup of rugby is about seizing one night, if it was available to a man like Thierry Dusautoir claiming it as a personal possession, it would this morning be draped in the Tricolore and heading for the Champs élysées.

"But it isn't, not morally anyway, and so the trophy goes to New Zealand, the world's No 1 rugby nation, for only the second time in the 24-year-history of the World Cup.

"You may say this is harsh on the French, variously the most sublimely brilliant and deeply schizophrenic entity in any front-line sport, and in a way it is. But as the All Black line held, quite desperately in the end, as fireworks began to erupt from the craggy shoreline of North Island to Stewart Island in the south, it was hard not to believe that a rough kind of justice had been imposed."

The All Blacks retreated into their shells under the pressure of injury and of the nation, but they did not buckle, writes Irish Times rugby analyst Liam Toland.

"Allons enfants de la Patrie (Arise, children of the Nation) and arise is what they did. What a brilliant statement from the French, holding hands like a well-heeled, orderly bunch of school children on a walking trip to church, as the world awaited their slaughter.

"In a flash as All Black Piri Weepu was cranking up the Kapa O Pango, “All Blacks, let me become one with the land, This is our land that rumbles,” Thierry Dusautoir and his fellow children left the arrow head and faced the All Blacks as one, becoming men.

"I was on the edge of my seat, nervous, tense and totally unsure of what was to happen next. Clearly France needed to starve the All Blacks of time and space but the pre-match gauntlet was laid down; 'We’re ready!' What was Aaron Cruden thinking as Dusautoir flattened him: ‘God defend New Zealand’?"

France captain Thierry Dusautoir and head coach Marc Lievremont will be hoping to come up with a way of upsetting the All Blacks © Getty Images

Former All Black Richard Loe writes in the New Zealand Herald that he is not expecting anything underhanded from France in Sunday's World Cup final.

"I don't think there is any way the French will come out employing filth against the All Blacks in the Rugby World Cup final tonight.

"Some think they may use that as shock tactics - and you've got to say they have done so before against the All Blacks, beating us in Nantes in 1986 and in 1999 at the Rugby World Cup.

"But the game has changed so much, it is so well policed now; anyone trying the nasty stuff will get caught quickly. The game can turn even on a yellow card, let alone a red and all professional players know that - even the French."

The All Blacks skipper's career will be defined on whether he finally gets his hands on the Webb Ellis Cup, writes Marc Hinton in The Dominion Post.

"Do you know that Richie McCaw has never even touched the Rugby World Cup?

"He doesn't think he's earned that right, so he's only ever glimpsed the gleaming trophy from afar. Tonight he has the chance to do something about that in a match that will define what may be the greatest All Black career of them all.

"It's almost cruel to think that McCaw, who will play his 103rd test in tonight's World Cup final against France, could be characterised as anything but a raging success.

"For the last 11 years he has been one of test rugby's consummate performers on the openside flank, showing courage, skill and commitment whenever he has worn that black jersey. He is a three-time winner of the IRB's player of the year award and, quite simply, there is no more respected figure in the game.

"But he has also been part of two failed World Cup campaigns and a third would create a permanent stain on his career that no amount of scrubbing could remove. There is just no way to soft-sell it. Tonight the McCaw legacy goes on the line."

Writing in the New Zealand Herald, Sean Fitzpatrick knows that the All Blacks are 15-20 points better than France but is still wary of the threat posed by Les Bleus.

"I'm nervous about tonight's Rugby World Cup final (which is good; I was nervous last week too and look what happened) but not so nervous that I can't stop and salute Keven Mealamu who is set to take the title of the All Blacks' most capped hooker.

"Kevvy equals my 92 test caps tonight and you'd have to say he looks likely to go on and become our third test centurion after Richie McCaw and Mils Muliaina. He deserves it. I am glad he is on our side and if you watch him closely in the tests he plays, you will already understand why he is selected time and again for the All Blacks.

"He is mobile but extremely strong and he always - guaranteed - gets you over the advantage line and gets the ball back. In the modern game, I cannot tell you how golden that is. We saw him do exactly that in the quarter-final against Argentina and the semifinal against the Wallabies. He has a nice little step, he goes through tackles with a low body position that seems to defy gravity sometimes and certainly defies tacklers. He mightily helps the All Blacks build phases."

Eddie Butler of The Guardian reviews Rugby World Cup 2011 and concludes that while the tournament offered a friendly New Zealand welcome and plenty of booze, it has been not a classic spectacle.

"At the time of writing, the sun is shining, the waters of Auckland harbour are glistening, the French band, as they have been tirelessly doing for days, are belting out "Hello Dolly" on Quay Street, and all is well with the Kiwi world. As it has been for seven weeks.

"The hosts have been fabulous, embracing the outside world, adopting alien teams across the towns of provincial New Zealand with unfailing humour and generosity. New Plymouth, home of the cold war minnow special between the USA and Russia, was a treat, stormy of weather, utterly heartwarming of welcome.

"A touch of malice, just to show that this is no plastic facade, was reserved for Quade Cooper, not for being a New Zealander who left to become fly-half for the Wallabies, but because he had a sly dig at Richie McCaw. To have a go at the All Blacks captain, Quade mate, put you in the category of fair game for a pop. He was booed at every turn until he collapsed against Wales, after which he departed Eden Park to resounding applause. Even the panto villain was cheered."

In his weekly column in The Independent, David Flatman salutes the consistency of the versatile All Blacks scrum-half.

"The thing is, if you want to be a truly world-class player, you have to be close to immaculate as often as possible, not just in the easy matchesand not just in the big ones.

"With this in mind - and having watched every match of this Rugby World Cup - I think the best player has been the All Black scrum-half Piri Weepu. This might cause a stir should you be a relative of Sean O'Brien or David Pocock, but that's OK; it's only an opinion.

"I have watched him play against varying grades of opposition and the one thing I have noticed above all else is that his game has never altered one jot; it has never dipped."

All Blacks skipper Richie McCaw powers forward against the Wallabies © Getty Images

Robert Kitson looks at the love affair between New Zealanders and All Blacks skipper Richie McCaw in The Guardian.

"New Zealand has changed substantially over the past two decades. Farewell the long white cloud; welcome to the land of the long flat white. What will forever remain is the pressure on the serving All Black captain. Richie McCaw, the present keeper of the flame, is required to be a simultaneous mix of Sir Edmund Hillary, Colin "Pine Tree" Meads and Mother Theresa. He has done a sterling job; you could travel to the furthest corners of the North and South Islands and still find not a soul with a bad word to say about him.

"Because McCaw is the embodiment of how most Kiwis like to see themselves: uncomplaining, modest, durable and resourceful. "He's very, very bright, he's brave and he's talented," said Graham Henry . "It's not a bad combination." Wayne Smith, the All Blacks's backs coach, is similarly fulsome. "Probably the same things characterise him as a player and a leader. He's bright, he's humble, he comes from a rural background so he's tough, he never gets too far ahead of himself and he's hugely resilient." McCaw on one leg, in other words, is better than most players on two."

Jonathan Davies sounds a note of caution for the All Blacks in The Independent.

"They don't award the trophy until all the rugby's been played. In the rush to crown New Zealand many people have seemingly forgotten this sporting truth. Certainly, the All Blacks would write off France at their peril.

"The bookies have the Kiwis heavily odds-on – and so they should. But there is a chance, however small, that France could become the most outrageous party-poopers in the history of rugby union. Indeed, the very fact Eden Park will be crammed with fans so ready to pop the bubbly after their first World Cup in 24 years should increase France's hopes. Mr Unbearable Tension could be their 16th man."

David Leggat flirts with the jitters prior to the All Blacks' big day in The New Zealand Herald.

"If France start well, get early points and arrive at halftime in touch, or even in front, watch out. Before last weekend's semifinal against Australia, the air was thick with tension at Eden Park.

"Normally sound, unflappable people were jittery. Was the dream to be dashed once more? This, remember, is a road well travelled by the All Blacks."

Former All Blacks scrum-half Justin Marshall offers some simple advice to the class of 2011 prior to the Rugby World Cup Final on stuff.co.nz.

"I have a simple message of encouragement for the All Blacks about tomorrow night's World Cup final. Stay hungry. It's as simple as that, I reckon. If they reproduce the intensity and passion from last Sunday I'm sure the rest will take care of itself against a French team that so far has looked a long way from its best.

"The All Blacks, as we know, have the best winning record of any sporting team in the world, and there's a reason for that. When I played, and I'm sure it's still the same now, we never talked about the outcome. What the All Blacks seek is perfection - and that's based around all sorts of events in the game."

Greg Growden evaluates a costly evening for Australia, despite their bronze medals, in The Sydney Morning Herald.

"It's the old story. When the Wallabies have their backs to the wall, they produce. But again, it was a bit too late, and it came at a considerable cost.

"The Wallabies last night succeeded in winning at Eden Park for the first time since 1986 and, even though it wasn't the All Blacks they overwhelmed, they will at least return to Sydney this afternoon as winners, after showing they can overcome losing two of their main game breakers early on and still achieve their objective.

"Kurtley Beale and Quade Cooper were gone by the 20th minute of the bronze medal game, and while that could have derailed the Wallabies, they kept their composure and, with Berrick Barnes taking the helm in midfield, achieved a spirited three-point victory."

The All Blacks are one step away from the history books © Getty Images

Shaun Edwards shares some of his research on the All Blacks and their "claustrophobic intensity" in The Guardian.

"It's an odd feeling. In less controversial circumstances these notes would have been used preparing for a World Cup final. After the quarter-final against Ireland, I sat down and started jotting down everything I knew about Graham Henry's 2011 All Blacks; how they play and how to play them. Most of the notes came from the New Zealand quarter-final against Argentina, who exposed a few nerves for 60 minutes, but the remainder were compulsive additions from the Australia semi-final when we already knew we were out of the competition and that the Wallabies would be our opposition for the third-place shoot-out.

"Over the second batch of notes, and after a chat with some of the All Black coaches, has been added "claustrophobic intensity" – not a terribly catchy phrase I agree, but the line those coaches planted in their players' minds before they sent them out against Australia. It just about sums up what happened in the opening quarter of that Eden Park semi-final and I suspect Sunday's final is likely to go the same way."

Josh Rakic, among others, pays tribute to Wallaby Test centurion Nathan Sharpe in The Sydney Morning Herald.

"It might be Nathan Sharpe's 100th Test tonight but hooker Stephen Moore says the 33-year-old second-rower can lay claim to at least another 66 caps.

"Moore made his Super Rugby debut under Sharpe's tutelage at the Queensland Reds in 2003, and said if it wasn't for the Gold Coast product, he'd likely never have had the confidence to force his way on to the international stage and play more than 60 Tests for the Wallabies.

''He could have easily just ignored me but he really made an effort to take me under his wing and look after me,'' said Moore, who still has a photo of he and Sharpe embraced in celebration after an emotional victory over England in 2008."

Mark Reason analyses Robbie Deans' decision to stick with misfiring playmaker Quade Cooper in the context of the race for the All Blacks job on stuff.co.nz.

"Steve Tew, the NZRU chief executive, can come out of the oxygen tent. The nightmare is over. Australia will not be playing Wales in the final, matching up the two New Zealand coaches whom he or his board passed over. Tew can now push for his mate Steve Hansen to get the job when this World Cup is over.

"The NZRU Board will be quite within its rights to pass Deans over this time around, because the former Crusaders coach made a huge call and he got it wrong. Very few people would criticise Deans for picking Quade Cooper coming into the World Cup, but there is quite a crowd who wonder why he stayed with his man for so long."

Peter Bills believes that the All Blacks must win Sunday's Rugby World Cup in style in The New Zealand Herald.

"All New Zealand believes there is just one task left for the All Blacks in Sunday's Rugby World Cup final. Win the Webb Ellis Cup for the first time in 24 long years.

"Granted, that's a long time to have a hangover. But I'd beg to differ. I reckon there are two jobs remaining for Graham Henry's men. Certainly, the first is actually to win the cup. New Zealand as a nation has gone through hell this last quarter of a century, watching South Africa and Australia (twice each) and England (once) win."

Will Genia has had a terrific seaso for the Wallabies © Getty Images

Writing in the New Zealand Herald, Paul Gregor says that Australia's Will Genia would be a worthy recipient of the International Rugby Board's player of the year gong.

This year the nominations are: Will Genia, David Pocock, Thierry Dusautoir, Ma'a Nonu, Piri Weepu and Jerome Kaino. That's going to be tough. Is there an obvious stand out from those six?

Well, there probably is... Genia. Just ahead of Kaino, Nonu, Pocock, Dusautoir and Weepu in that order.

Genia has reached that special place where every team he encounters will have spent most of their analysis working out ways to diffuse his explosive influence.

Ewen McKenzie, in the Sydney Morning Herald, writes that France's record gives them a realistic chance against the All Blacks.

So it all comes down to the All Blacks and France. I'm not too sure many would have tipped that as the World Cup final – I certainly didn't.

While the odds are stacked heavily against the French, they have defied the odds and should not be underestimated. France are the first team to make the final despite losing two games and, although they benefited from a controversial red card, have created history nonetheless.

We shouldn't be too quick to write off the French. It is particularly worthy to note that they have had a couple of wins from their past nine visits to Eden Park – probably better than anyone else in world rugby at this venue. In their last visit to New Zealand, France also inflicted the last loss the All Blacks had on home soil, in Wellington during 2009.

The Independent's James Lawton attempts to decipher the enigmatic French coach Marc Lievremont ahead of Sunday's World Cup Final.

In a little more than 72 hours Marc Lièvremont may have stunned the rugby world. He may have moved from the low ground of controversy to the uplands of pure legend.

At this moment, though, he is standing beneath a ball that has been hoisted high by one of his coaching assistants.

It is one of the Lièvremont rituals that so often suggest a man congenitally apart, this session of kicking and catching while his frequently malcontent players loosen up at the other side of the training field for a little serious work before Sunday's World Cup final with the All Blacks.

Writing on Walesonline Gwyn Jones reveals what he has learned during the Rugby World Cup.

I have learned many things during the past few weeks. Most of them have come as a wonderful surprise while others have been difficult to accept.

I have learned the exact wording of Law 10.4 and its various sub-clauses concerning foul play.

I have learned a new term, the ‘tip tackle.’ And I have learned exactly how shattering it is to lose a World Cup semi-final against a team we are patently better than.

I have learned that Sam Warburton is a young man of immeasurable dignity, somehow able to conceal the inner purgatory he must have had as he watched his team from the sideline. I would have been in floods of tears; he remained stoic.

France will not be able to ground the high-flying Kiwis, according to Paul Ackford © Getty Images

The Telegraph's Paul Ackford cannot foresee France preventing the All Blacks from fulfilling their destiny.

"My love affair with New Zealand rugby started 33 years ago. I say love affair but that’s inaccurate. Fear affair more like, because in 1978, aged 20, I found myself playing against Graham Mourie’s touring All Blacks for the South and South-West division, as it was in those far off days.

"God, those Blacks were good. It wasn’t that they were particularly hard men. I’d grown up in the county championship where a fixture between Devon and Gloucester usually started with a fight and ended with a series of pitched battles.

"I made the mistake once of tweaking the testicles of Phil Blakeway, a supernaturally strong Gloucester prop, in an attempt to persuade him to let go of the ball in a maul. Big error.

"Blakeway grabbed my wrist and held on until the maul disentangled and it was only him and me left, him still holding on to my wrist, me breaking the world record for the number of apologies spewed out in fifteen seconds of stammering fear. I spent the few remaining minutes of the match as far away from the ball and Blakeway as possible."

Bret Harris of the The Australian believes that Quade Cooper can recover from his World Cup woe if he follows the example of the legendary Wallabies scrum-half.

"If Quade Cooper is looking for inspiration after his disappointing World Cup, he should study the career of former Wallabies captain George Gregan.

"Gregan made his Test debut against Italy in 1994 and later that year he made that tackle on All Blacks winger Jeff Wilson.

"He had been on the winning side in all of his Tests as Australia entered the 1995 World Cup as defending champion, but had an unhappy tournament and the Wallabies were knocked out by England in the quarter-finals.

"Gregan was in and out of the Wallabies' starting line-up for a couple of years until he re-established himself as the top halfback. By 1999, he was arguably the best halfback in the game and played a key role in Australia's World Cup victory.

"There are similarities between Cooper's Test career so far and Gregan's early years."

Gregor Paul argues in the New Zealand Herald that the World Cup hosts are getting a little too cocky ahead of Sunday's final against France.

"Thankfully the All Blacks are about the only people in New Zealand not a touch complacent right now.

"Everyone else it seems has already decided the final has been won with others going as far to label the French as the worst finalists of all time.

"Such views are starting to grate. Not because the French are enigmatic and unpredictable and capable of an upset; in all honesty this lot probably don't have it in them to pull off the unthinkable.

"It grates because it comes across as needlessly arrogant and disrespectful especially when predictions are made about the likelihood of a 20-points-plus victory. Imagine the outrage if it were the English or Australians talking with such premature confidence?"

Writing in The Independent, James Lawton lauds Aaron Cruden's thus far impressive attempt to fill the significant void left by the injured Dan Carter.

"Daniel Carter will receive a World Cup winner's medal if his team-mates beat France in his absence on Sunday, retain his lucrative underwear ads and remain the most idolised Kiwi by roughly the width of the Tasman Sea.

"It is reward for being the world's most gifted rugby player, an artistic leader who gives the game a unique dimension of grace and vision. However, his second-choice understudy, Aaron Cruden, is not going short of recognition for his brave and at times extremely accomplished attempt to run in the footsteps of the injured national icon.

"Apart from a likely £50,000 win bonus, there is also a rumour that his battle-hardened team-mates may have a whip round and present him with a new skateboard."

Sunday's Rugby World Cup final is a must-watch event, even though the boot has had far too much say in the previous six, writes Frank Keating in The Guardian.

"It began on 9 September, far too long ago. And after all the energy and expense and the dwarf-throwing, all the injuries, the boasts, the headlines, and the gruesome Haka encores, they say the whole Kiwi caboodle is bound to end this Sunday in a discordant anticlimactic mismatch.

"Who, anyway, remotely expects the World Cup final to be an all-singing, all-dancing spectacular? They never are. World Cup finals have no rich pedigree, no vivid provenance of colourful or inspiring back-story to bank on.

"The very first final, in this same town and between the same teams as Sunday, was a turgid home-team walkover: New Zealand 29, France 9. There were four tries - undistinguished, long-forgotten things maybe, but at least there were four, twice as many as in any other final.

"In the five finals since that humdrum premiere in 1987 only five tries have been scored - by Tony Daly in 1991, Owen Finegan and Ben Tune (1999), Jason Robinson and Lote Tuqiri (2003) and, er, that's it. Not one stirred the blood."

France, like their coach Marc Lievremont, remain an enigma © Getty Images

France played poorly in their semi-final win over Wales but should not be taken lightly by the All Blacks in the final, writes Justin Marshall in his column in The Dominion Post.

"Respect the French. That's the simple message I have leading into this weekend's World Cup final.

"Regardless of how well they have or haven't played in this tournament, the French deserve respect based on history, and also on the talent and hardened experience they have in their team. It will be to the All Blacks' peril if they believe the final is already won.

"I don't doubt Richie McCaw and his team already know that, and it was hard not to be impressed by the way they almost downplayed their performance against Australia.

"It was as though they had already switched their focus to France the minute they walked off the field."

When Australia realised that they could not out-muscle New Zealand in Sunday's World Cup semi-final, they had nothing else to throw at them, according to Bret Harris of The Australian.

"At first I thought the All Blacks-Wallabies World Cup semi-final was over in the first five and a half minutes. That was all the time it took for All Blacks inside centre Ma'a Nonu to score the only try of the match.

"But just as important as the five points was the tone the All Blacks set in that opening period of play. There is no doubt the Wallabies struggled to contain the expansive New Zealanders as they shifted the ball from one side to the other until fullback Israel Dagg made a break and put Nonu over.

"But it was more the sheer physicality of their play that shook the Wallabies. Having won the battle to control the tempo of the game, the All Blacks had the momentum for most of the match.

"Then I thought, no, the Wallabies lost the game at the kick-off when five-eighth Quade Cooper booted the ball into touch on the full."

Richard Knowler of The Dominion Post believes that the All Blacks boss should be kept on by the New Zealand Rugby Union in some capacity after the completion of the World Cup.

"He's pulling a pension, enjoys dropping a hook into the briny for a snapper and has probably torn a few strips off some wayward school pupils in his time. Oh, and he knows a thing or two about rugby.

"At 65 years of age, Graham Henry will soon be forced to dip his toes back into the job market and if retirement doesn't appeal, maybe it is time to update his CV.

"Although the All Blacks coach has remained coy about whether he will vacate the job he has held for eight years, the perfect ending is in sight; if the All Blacks finally win the Webb Ellis Cup for the second time, Henry will bowl on to the Eden Park turf on Sunday night with that lopsided grin of his, embrace everyone in sight in a series of congratulatory hugs and then declare "no more".

"And if they lose, the grin will be gone but the scenario remains the same. Then what?"

Writing in the New Zealand Herald, Peter Bills believes that the All Blacks lifting the Webb Ellis Cup would be a victory for The Game.

"The manner of New Zealand's demolition of Australia in the Rugby World Cup semifinal was an object lesson to all sides around the world.

"The good news for the rest is that countries like South Africa can retain for all time their intensity, their enormous commitment in the set pieces and at the breakdown.

"After all, that was, in essence, where the semifinal was won and lost. The Wallabies just couldn't handle all that power which kept coming at them and never stopped.

"But here's the less good news for the South Africans and other teams in world rugby. You just have to have a game outside your No 10."

Before leaving his post France's defence coach, Dave Ellis has 'put every minute' into helping his employers reach their ultimate goal, writes Richard Williams in The Guardian.

"In four years of working with Marc Lievremont, this was the first time Dave Ellis had shared a press conference with his head coach. Managing to keep a straight face, he listened with astonishment as the Frenchman described his latest problem with his players, who had contravened the previous night's instructions by going out to celebrate their victory over Wales.

Virtually unprompted, Lievremont spoke of his disappointment that the players could not be trusted. 'I told them what I thought of them - that they're a bunch of undisciplined spoilt brats, disobedient, sometimes selfish, always complaining, always whining,' he said. Then he muttered something about how he didn't suppose that a few cigarettes and a dessert at the end of dinner would make much difference to their performance against the All Blacks in Sunday's final.

"'Some of the things he said, I would never say,' Ellis remarked after Lievremont had left the hall. 'Never. But he tells it as it is. I think part of him must come from Yorkshire. He got stuck into the players this morning because that's how he felt. And when you ask him a question about it, he tells you how he feels.'"

Mike Phillips bursts through to score against France in Auckland © Getty Images

The French were battered, refused to come out of their bunker and waited for the young Welshmen to crash and burn. The crash didn't come, writes James Lawton in The Independent.

"You know how it is when something you have been persuaded is worth believing in goes out of the door. You know that empty feeling, the sense that the sunshine is a little less bright or that the wind which seemed to blow so invigoratingly has brought only another reason for disillusionment.

"It might be held that a team of sportsmen, however young and splendid, is an unreliable vehicle for such emotion, but maybe you would believe it with a little less conviction were you here today, mourning the end of Wales' chance of winning the World Cup.

"Of course, it was always possible that the French, the cynical and often too frivolous and irresolute French, would find a way to make their third final but the worst of it is they were as disgraceful in their 9-8 victory over 14-man Wales as when they surrendered to Tonga at the end of a dishevelled pool campaign."

Josh Rakic of The Dominion Post slates the performance of Australia's fly-half in Sunday's World Cup semi-final defeat by the All Blacks.

"If that was Quade Cooper's best game ever, as captain James Horwill fearlessly declared it would be on match eve, then one can only wonder what his worst has been.

"Try as he might, the extremely talented but enigmatic Cooper looked rattled for confidence from the onset and aside from a drop goal late in the first half he looked anything but the player that led the Queensland Reds to the Super Rugby title and inspired Australia's dominance of Italy only five weeks ago.

"Cooper and his team-mates insisted the pressure hadn't taken its toll on the New Zealand-born playmaker. Anyone in a gold jumper was willing to jump to his defence.

"But after last night's performance and on the back of his horror showing against the Springboks and the Wallabies' loss to Ireland, even coach Robbie Deans and the man himself would find it difficult to put a positive spin on his performance on the world stage, when it mattered most."

In his column in the Sydney Morning Herald, Wallaby legend John Eales gives his thoughts on the weekend's semi-finals.

"So history repeats itself unfortunately - the French and the All Blacks vie for the William Webb Ellis Cup, while the Wallabies take on the Welsh in the third versus fourth playoff, exactly mirroring the first World Cup of 1987.

"On Saturday in Auckland, the first semi-final between Wales and France promised much but had its potential stunted. If there was to be a final of National Anthems, this would just about have to be it. I'm not sure what either Land of My Fathers or La Marseillaise exactly says but I get the drift, everyone does. At their conclusion both teams were teary, but only one was at the end of the match.

"But as can be the case when the blood boils, the execution of their start didn't match the passion and intensity of their tunes. For it was a nervy first five minutes which raised doubts about the Welsh team's ability to handle the big stage. The next 75 minutes erased most such questions even though two cruel strikes put paid to their final ambition."

Writing in the The Australian, Wayne Smith bemoans the fact that Australia lost their cutting edge at precisely the wrong time.

"The Wallabies have gone backwards throughout their World Cup campaign, retreating further and further from the attacking game that had threatened to make them real contenders at this tournament.

"Leaving aside the 21 tries they scored in pool-round romps against the United States and Russia, the Wallabies scored only five tries in four Tests against Six Nations or Tri-Nations opponents, and four of those came in the space of 20 inspired minutes against Italy in their opening match.

"The All Blacks held them tryless last night, as did Ireland when they stunned the Wallabies with a 15-6 upset during the round robin stage, which meant all they had to show for 240 minutes of effort against the three quality sides they encountered at this tournament was a solitary try against the Springboks."

Dylan Cleaver of the New Zealand Herald salutes the performance of New Zealand's third-choice fly-half in Sunday's World Cup semi-final win over Australia.

"World, meet Aaron Cruden.

"The Manawatu first five-eighths stepped on to the world's biggest stage at the Rugby World Cup last night and played, well, he played a little bit like a right-footed Dan Carter.

"There was the odd mis-step - a loose pass early, a couple of cute grubbers that were not on - but in between times he controlled the All Blacks like a seasoned pro. So much so that even Piri Weepu, whose radar was not so finely tuned last night, recognised early that he didn't have to carry the team on his shoulders.

"One searing break Cruden made in the first half seemed to catch even his teammates out as the support arrived just a little late after Will Genia pulled off a try-saving cover tackle."

Sam Warburton exits the field after his dismissal against France © Getty Images

Paul Ackford of the Sunday Telegraph argues that if you strip away the emotion from a fabulously courageous Welsh effort, only one conclusion remains.

"Alain Rolland's decision to show Sam Warburton the red card for a tip tackle on Vincent Clerc after 17 minutes, a decision which has sparked considerable criticism and resentment from the Welsh camp, was absolutely correct.

"Law 10.4 (j) states that 'lifting a player from the ground and dropping or driving that player into the ground whilst the player's feet are still off the ground, such that the player's head and/or upper body come into contact with the ground, is dangerous play. Sanction: penalty kick.'

"You'd struggle to find a better, more accurate description of what Warburton did than that paragraph in the law book. Following a line-out won by France, the Wales captain drove up and into Clerc, using his own momentum and strength to lift and tilt the French winger to the right, beyond the horizontal, applying downward pressure for a fraction of a second before releasing him.

"Clerc landed with the base of his neck and shoulder area striking the turf simultaneously, feet still up in the air.

"Referee Rolland, a Dublin mortgage adviser when he is not antagonising the whole of Wales, got that part bang on."

In his column in Wales on Sunday, Barry John comes to terms with Saturday's heart-breaking Rugby World Cup semi-final defeat by France.

"What could have been. And what should have been.

"Wales should today have been celebrating a deserved a World Cup final spot but instead we are a rugby nation in mourning.

"Walking through the streets of Cardiff yesterday after the heartbreaking semi-final defeat against France, there were people wandering around in disbelief.

"There was some anger directed towards French referee Alain Rolland for sending off Sam Warburton.

"I won’t go as far as to say that decision cost Wales victory. But they were agonisingly denied by decisions and circumstances out of their control."

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Mark Reason bemoans the progression of France to the game's showpiece event at the expense of a far more innovative Welsh side.

"Once upon a time, 17 years ago, France came to this stadium and beat New Zealand with the try from the end of the earth. That grand tradition has been defiled.

"The new France are without question the worst team in history to make a World Cup final. Les Bleus are leached of colour, a pale imitation of former glories.

"Captain Thierry Dusautoir, the man who made the 38 tackles that beat the All Blacks four years ago, was embarrassed to talk to the world after this victory."

James Lawton of The Independent bemoans the split-second decision which killed one of the most inspiring stories of this or any other sporting tournament.

"The card referee Alain Rolland showed Sam Warburton, one of the great, if not the greatest man of this World Cup of rugby suddenly made hollow, was coloured red - but not so densely that you couldn't see the outline of the joker.

"A joker who didn't give much more than a split second to weigh the meaning of what he saw, a joker who made the mistake of forgetting – or maybe ignoring – the fact that his arbitrary decision not only cut dead one of the most inspiring stories of this or most any other major sports tournament of recent memory but also booted into touch any sense of natural justice

"Warburton, the 23-year-old Welsh captain, had displayed stunningly mature leadership right up to the moment he tackled Vincent Clerc in the 19th minute of yesterday's semi-final ferociously enough to lift him up into the air."

Martin Johnson has made mistakes but England's troubles in New Zealand are a small part of a much bigger problem, writes Paul Hayward in The Guardian.

"In Twickenham's mess we see a wider British corporate dysfunction - in which plausibly ambitious men award themselves job titles such as operations or performance director while the firm ceases to operate properly and infuriates its customers.

"If the Rugby Football Union were an energy company you would listen to Mozart down the line for half an hour while waiting to speak to an employee. It would be in permanent 'structural review' or 'reporting back' to its management board. Each failure would bring the creation of a new bureaucratic tier and people would be invited to reapply for their own jobs.

"This was Martin Johnson's lot this week after a group of players he trusted (and indulged) at the World Cup let him down on and off the pitch. In the RFU's management comedy, the greatest England captain was issued with a 14-day ultimatum to say whether he wanted to keep a position that will probably be taken off him either way."

Will the All Blacks choke again? © Getty Images

In the New Zealand Herald Simon Winter wades through the pre-match jibes and jokes offered up by the Australian media ahead of the World Cup semi-final between the All Blacks and the Wallabies.

"What's the difference between a tea-bag and the All Blacks? A tea-bag stays in the Cup longer."

Or, how about, "What do you call 15 guys sitting around the TV watching the Rugby World Cup final? The All Blacks."

Australian rugby columnists are queuing up across the Tasman to sink the boot into the All Blacks, ahead of tomorrow night's second Rugby World Cup semi final between the All Blacks and Wallabies at Eden Park.

Greg Growden examines the rivalry between Kiwi's and opposing coaches Graham Henry and Robbie Deans in the Sydney Morning Herald

"Graham Henry, described by his assistant Steve Hansen as one of the few men with an upside-down smile, is not renowned for giving too much away. Whenever he talks about the team he coaches, the almighty All Blacks, everything is considered, to the point.

"So there was genuine surprise a few weeks ago when he opened up and admitted that after the 2007 World Cup debacle when his team, almost unbackable favourites to win the tournament but which collapsed at quarter-final time, he thought his days as All Blacks coach were over.

''When I reapplied, I thought they would appoint Robbie [Deans], and even in the interview I thought Robbie would get appointed,'' he says."

In the New Zealand Herald Wynne Gray wades through the long list of All Blacks who have come and gone as Graham Henry settled on his squad to secure the World Cup.

"The All Black selectors have sifted through a stack of talent since the 2007 World Cup.

"A number have not been All Blacks for much time at all, such as John Schwalger, Kevin O'Neill, Bryn Evans, Lelia Masaga, Tamati Ellison, Mike Delany, Benson Stanley, George Whitelock, Jamie Mackintosh, Alby Mathewson and Hika Elliot."

Former Wallabies captain John Eales examines the tactical battles in this weekend's World Cup semi-finals in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Rugby is more paper, scissors, rock than it is heads and tails, or hills and flats in the toss of a cricket bat in the backyard. Tactics are rarely binary and no game plan guarantees success against a particular opposition every time. The Wallabies may have scraped through with gutsy defence last week but duplication doesn't guarantee success against the All Blacks this week.

For just as rock is covered by paper, scissors is destroyed by rock and scissors in turn cuts paper, sometimes one style will triumph over another, but that is entirely dependent on the tactics and play of the opposition on the day.

And tactics will be paramount in this weekend's semi-finals between, France and Wales, and the Wallabies and All Blacks.

Advertisement: Story continues below Welsh coach, Warren Gatland, has been most impressive so far leading the Welsh to where few imagined history would record. Will it be his team's ensemble game which eclipses the French unpredictability and flair, or have the French another trick up their sleeve?

Schalk Burger is held up by the Wallabies defence © Getty Images

Matt Burke of the Sydney Morning Herald believes that Australia can upset the odds and defeat New Zealand in their Rugby World Cup semi-final showdown on Sunday.

"Don't you just love how quickly historians can dredge up a stat or a figure about something that really has no relevance to this week's game?

"We have seen the 'Eden Park hoodoo' raise its head again. Forget it. Here is the real stat: through all of the Rugby World Cups, the Wallabies have never lost to a southern hemisphere team in the knockout stages.

"Perhaps there have been only a few occasions on which they have met, but it's a start.
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"But I think we could come up with something else that will convince us that the Wallabies are going to advance to the final after Sunday's game."

Writing in The Telegraph, Brendan Venter argues that hhe only way France can beat Wales on Saturday is if the poor standard of refereeing continues and their offences at the breakdown go unnoticed.

"France are by far the least disciplined side left in the World Cup and they have no understanding of the key new breakdown directives. They go offside at rucks, the tackled player does not roll away, and they play as if they have never been informed that the tackled player must be released.

"But none of this matters if referee Alain Rolland turns a blind eye at the breakdown like Bryce Lawrence apparently did in Australia's quarter-final win over South Africa. In that game Lawrence was seemingly so overawed by the occasion that he allowed all number of transgressions to go unpunished.

"He was like a rabbit in the headlights and at one stage he appeared so visibly scared about making decisions that I almost felt sorry for him."

In his weekly column in The Guardian, Shaun Edwards outlines the way in which players such as New Zealand's Richie McCaw, Australia's David Pocock and Wales's Sam Warburton are proving you don't have to have all the ball to win games - and perhaps the World Cup.

"Wales are going up in the world. No doubt about it. Thursday night's team meal ahead of Saturday's semi-final was at the top of the Sky Tower - a kind of Post Office Tower with knobs on, which dominates the Auckland skyline. You feel like you're 1,000 feet in the air. And the food's not bad either. If this is the price you pay for success I could get used to it.

"Who would have thought you could dine out on defence? But that's the way this tournament is going with attention increasingly on the Jackals - the Richie McCaws, David Pococks and Sam Warburtons of the World Cup, who are proving you don't have to have all the ball to win games. I know; the first time you say it, it's a bit like telling someone that water can flow up hill. But I'm prepared to give examples.

"In 2004 Wasps beat Toulouse and won the Heineken Cup when it seemed as though we only had about 30% of possession. Then in the 2007 World Cup quarter-final in Cardiff, France beat New Zealand by making something like 200 tackles - pretty much a record for those like me who store such stats - but then last weekend Australia beat South Africa without hardly touching the ball the day after Wales blunted Ireland's attack."

James Lawton of The Independent speaks with Wales fullback Leigh Halfpenny ahead of Saturday's Rugby World Cup semi-final against France.

"Most days when the boy came out of Penyrheol Comprehensive his grandfather was waiting. He took the boy to where he could practise goal-kicking, usually at the local club, but if that was closed anywhere with more or less vertical rugby posts would do.

"The boy went willingly because at a time when some of the great heroes of Wales worried the culture of rugby had gone too willingly into a version of Dylan Thomas's dark night, ambushed by X Factor celebrity, video arcades and the lure of biking round to the girlfriend's house, he shared his grandfather's passion for the game.

"Leigh Halfpenny's grandfather Malcolm wasn't a hero of Wales but he had played a few times for Swansea and that was heroic enough for the boy who greeted him so warmly when school was done."

As Ireland were busy perfecting Plan A, which was pretty damn good, Wales for months, even years, were perfecting Plans B and C, writes Irish Times rugby analyst Liam Toland.

"So the All Blacks have made it into the semi-final, so too the Wallabies; predictable? Wales have travelled an unbelievable distance in a few short months, making their arrival slightly less so but that France have made it into the semi-final requires our attention. A team that is dysfunctional in its selection, struggling to know what it wants but can turn it on “periodically” when required demands us to take notice. Irish rugby should take notice.

"Tomorrow the Wales-France outcome is far too unpredictable, almost immaterial, as either side is more than capable of winning. What I’m interested in, from an Irish point of view, is how will the plans go? The Irish Times headline last Monday read, “Kidney feels the hurt after Wales execute perfect plan.” A plan is only perfect if you are allowed to execute it. Why? - because we can never completely predict the actions of the opposition and must plan accordingly. What happens when the plan goes awry and how much influence will rest on the number 10s when it does?"

What next for the RFU? © Getty Images

Brian Moore, of the Daily Telegraph, provides his take on what should happen next at the RFU.

"Some people have used the lazy, knee jerk criticism that the media is responsible for England’s downfall, though naturally without demonstrating how it is responsible for any of the reported excesses or poor selections, tactics and performances.

Others have accused former players of stabbing Martin Johnson in the back for daring to make unemotional assessments of his managerial record and concluding that it is not good enough and his contract should not be renewed.

Let me say forcefully, if anyone thinks I relish writing critical articles about the team I played for, without being paid, for eight years and people I played with and respect, they are stupid. They are equally dull if they do not also understand that I will not, however, deny the evidence of my own eyes and abandon logic and reality when it comes to forming an opinion about what I see."

Gavin Mairs, of theDaily Telegraph, talks to Fran Cotton about England's ill-discipline.

"Fran Cotton, who was on Wednesday asked to chair an independent review of England’s World Cup failure, has described Mike Tindall’s behaviour in New Zealand as “unforgivable” and declared himself a “massive fan” of Sir Clive Woodward.

Cotton, the former England and Lions prop, has been asked by the Rugby Football Union to look into the entire elite structure of English rugby, reporting back to the Management Board by early December.

As revealed by Telegraph Sport on Tuesday, his brief extends beyond the separate review being carried out by Rob Andrew, the RFU’s operations director. Cotton will take in Andrew’s own role in England’s lamentable, ill-disciplined World Cup campaign."

Richard Williams, of the Guardian, previews Sunday's World Cup semi-final.

"Anyone seeking evidence that the All Blacks are capable of ending a 24-year wait to proclaim themselves champions of the world once again could do worse than take a stroll around Brad Thorn, who will play his final matches in the Rugby World Cup over the next few days.

At 36 years old, standing 6ft 5in and weighing in at a couple of pounds over 18 stone, the lock appears to have been hewn from the same batch of timber that produced the great Brian Lochore, New Zealand's captain in the 1960s, and his equally distinguished successor, Colin "Pinetree" Meads. These are totems of All Black rugby: impassive, raw-boned men who give the impression of having been reared in a remote region of a remote country, where self-sufficiency is the priority and words are not to be wasted."

Wales winger George North, talking to Chris Foy of the Daily Mail, speaks of his route into rugby.

"It was supposed to be a day off for the Wales squad, but one of them had no time to rest. George North was in detective mode, undertaking an urgent damage-limitation exercise — trying to track down a lost ‘love spoon’. It wasn’t going well.

As the youngest member of Warren Gatland’s World Cup touring party, the 19-year-old Scarlets wing has been entrusted with the ornately carved wooden spoon. It is a tradition that goes back several Wales tours and echoes the Lions one of the youngest player having to look after cuddly mascot Leo the Lion.

Trouble is, all the jokers around him are doing their best to make it vanish, and this time someone has succeeded. As of Thursday evening, North hadn’t seen the spoon for about 80 hours, and his fine for mislaying it had climbed to three figures."

Gregor Paul, writing for the New Zealand Herald, slams the Wallabies.

"Let's be honest - it would just about be vomit-inducing seeing James Horwill lift the World Cup.

No offence to Horwill who seems a decent enough sort of bloke, but he's captain of a team that must be about the hardest to like since Will Carling's England of the early 1990s.

This is a Wallaby team with inordinate talent; a team that can play rugby for sure. They trust their skills, see space all over the field and they are brave and accurate."

Wales' Mike Phillips paid tribute to Whitland RFC after their win over Ireland © Getty Images

Sion Morgan, writing for Wales Online, pays a visit to the Carmarthenshire town of Whitland, home of Mike Phillips, Jonathan Davies and Scott Williams.

"As excitement reaches fever pitch across Wales ahead of the Rugby World Cup semi-final against France, Sion Morgan pays a visit to the Carmarthenshire town of Whitland, home of Mike Phillips, Jonathan Davies and Scott Williams

Wales had just resoundingly beaten Ireland to secure a first Rugby World Cup semi-final in 24 years.

The eyes of the rugby world were on try-scoring scrum-half and man-of-the-match Mike Phillips as he stepped up to a broadcaster’s microphone to give his thoughts on the epic encounter.

“It was a great day for Whitland,” Phillips told the world. Just 15 minutes later Arwyn Thomas, the chairman of Whitland RFC received a text from New Zealand."

Gavin Mairs, writing for the Daily Telegraph, looks at the growing instability at the RFU.

"Rob Andrew’s proposed review of England’s dismal World Cup campaign is under threat after it emerged that senior figures at the Rugby Football Union look set to launch a wider, independent review which will assess Andrew’s own performance.

Andrew is the RFU’s operations director but said this week he had been offered the newly-created role of professional rugby director.

As part of his new brief, he said he would conduct a “robust” four to six-week inquest into England's failure, which has left Martin Johnson’s future as manager in doubt.

Andrew indicated he would be the lead figure in a five-man committee – also featuring two representatives from Premiership Rugby – which would make recommendations to the RFU management board.

But now it has emerged that senior figures at the RFU are discussing ordering a more wide-ranging, external review which would scrutinise Andrew’s own performance as the head of the governing body’s rugby department, as well as examining the role of Johnson and his coaching team."

Rob Kitson, writing for the The Guardian, pays tribute to those players we may never see on the international scene again.

"It is not always the result of a game that defines great players. Sometimes it is how they react to failure or crushing disappointment, particularly at a World Cup. This tournament will be remembered for what happens over the next 12 days, but the dignified exits of Brian O'Driscoll, Mario Ledesma, Victor Matfield and Mils Muliaina will also linger long in the memory.

There is something particularly life-affirming about watching true rugby gladiators depart the ultimate stage for the final time. Unlike cricket, there is no one to give them a raised-bat salute in the evening shadows; too many, as was the case with Muliaina and Bakkies Botha, end their Test playing days in the harsh light of the medical room, the message delivered with a quiet shake of the head from the doctor rather than a standing ovation from the fans outside."

Former Kiwi international Grant Fox, in the New Zealand Herald, urges the New Zealand public to back Aaron Cruden in the semi-final against Australia.

"All Blacks legend Grant Fox has urged New Zealand to believe in Aaron Cruden - and suggested the Manawatu first five-eighth will be "immune" from the pressure of semi-finals rugby.

Cruden played 47 minutes in the All Blacks' 33-10 quarter-final victory over Argenina on Sunday, replacing the injured Colin Slade and slotting into the backline seamlessly.

Wallabies halfback Will Genia yesterday suggested the Australians would target Cruden in their semi-final match. But Fox told Radio Sport Cruden is more than capable of handling the occasion."

Piri Weepu has emerged as an important cog for the All Blacks © Getty Images

Eddie Butler praises the All Blacks' 'little volcano', scrum-half Piri Weepu, as he prepares to spearhead their Rugby World Cup semi-final charge in The Guardian.

"Down at the bottom of North Island, within the city limits of Lower Hutt and the boundary of Greater Wellington, is the small town of Wainuiomata. It is the home town of the All Blacks scrum-half and the two are alike: little and tough. If you've ever wondered, by the way, about the name, Piri Weepu is of Maori and Niuean descent, Niue being 100 square miles of raised coral atoll in the South Pacific, 1,500 miles north-east of New Zealand.

"Despite being where the former All Blacks Tana Umaga and Neemia Tialata come from, Wainuiomata is a rugby league town. Piri's brother, Billy, played for the Manly Sea Eagles in the mid-1990s and their mum, Kura, coached the Wainuiomata League under-sevens. In fact, she had Piri in her team and gave one of the greatest quotes ever delivered by a mother about a son: "He was a prick to coach."

England fly-half Toby Flood reflects on their exit from the Rugby World Cup in The Daily Telegraph.

"I wanted time to do a bit of soul-searching after our World Cup exit. Life doesn’t get much darker than the moments in a changing room after a defeat like ours by France and that walk helped me to make sense of it.

"Looking back, there was nothing in our preparations that at the time didn’t feel right. We literally gave everything to be as good as we could and did not cut any corners. We knew France were in trouble and the whole group probably didn’t realise just how dangerous they would be once their players started to play for themselves. Until you experience the intensity of a World Cup, perhaps it is difficult to get a sense of that."

Former All Black Taine Randell believes that the Wallabies are carrying a major weak link in Quade Cooper on stuff.co.nz

"A lot is being made of the All Blacks' supposed crisis at No.10 - but I think the Wallabies have their own problems there with Quade Cooper.

"And it's a fairly big problem, too, if you consider the way his form has fallen away during the World Cup. Cooper is an enigma. He can be outstanding one game and an absolute ghost the next.

"A lot of that comes with the intensity the opposition bring to the Wallabies. Cooper clearly isn't effective without front-foot ball. If teams muscle up against the Australians, he goes missing."

Gregor Paul reflects on the shift of attention away from star fly-halves in The New Zealand Herald.

"It's true - the arrival of Stephen Donald in the All Black camp hardly inspires confidence. It's a worry, not so much because of his wobbly history as a test five eighth, but because he's the fourth choice.

"No coach ever wants to be dipping that far into the stocks come a World Cup semi-final. But the despair and angst can be kept to a minimum. It has become apparent that this is not a World Cup about No 10s."

Martin Johnson and Rob Andrew are not the only Rugby Football Union employees to be under pressure © Getty Images

Writing in the Guardian, Rob Kitson examines the in-fighting and chaos within the Rugby Football Union.

"The Rugby Football Union is not exactly unfamiliar with a ruck. In its 140 years of existence there have been endless arguments, most of them dull enough to stupefy even the keenest old fart. Ever since 1895, when 20 clubs from Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cheshire broke away and established what is now the Rugby Football League, few sporting bodies have matched it for internal feuding and chicanery, occasionally interrupted by lengthy breaks for lunch."

Wynne Gray pays tribute to New Zealand's new go-to guy Piri Weepu in the New Zealand Herald.

"Next thing we know Piri Weepu will be driving the All Black bus to the semifinal.

"The halfback probably has his HT licence and even if that detail has passed him by, he'd be able to navigate the Auckland streets with a motorcycle police escort.

"Talk about multi-tasking, the founding member of the extra-donut club has been in recent overdrive."

Former England prop Phil Vickery urges England's younger players to use their calamitous World Cup campaign to make them stronger players in the Daily Mail.

"I’m sure some of the guys will go away from this competition with a bitter pill. It’s a long flight home. I remember being stood on that pitch in 1999 watching Jannie de Beer kick five drop goals and us crashing out of the World Cup. That stayed with me. It was the catalyst for that England team to move on and realise as players where we were in the scale of world rugby - not Six Nations, but world rugby. It was the night we realised we weren’t really that good and had failed to compete on the world stage. Clive Woodward, his coaches and the players turned around and did something about it.

This time England were guilty of knock-ons and poor passes that simply shouldn’t happen at this level. There are issues with this team, they just cannot seem to execute properly on the field. My message to the young England players in that side is remember defeat because it is a horrible feeling. I’ve been through it, I know. Use it as a watershed moment.
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Former All Blacks skipper Taine Randell argues in the Sydney Morning Herald that the All Blacks should be targetting Quade Cooper ahead of their World Cup semi-final.

"A lot is being made of the All Blacks' supposed crisis at No.10 - but I think the Wallabies have their own problems there with Quade Cooper.

"And it's a fairly big problem, too, if you consider the way his form has fallen away during the World Cup.

Cooper is an enigma. He can be outstanding one game and an absolute ghost the next."

Manu Tuilagi is the latest England player to be embroiled in an off-field incident © Getty Images

"It was what it was, as Martin Johnson would say. And what it was really wasn’t anything like the campaign England hoped for, or should have delivered.

"A mess of distractions away from the rugby pitch, and often just a mess on it, England decamped from New Zealand as the lead balloon of the 2011 tournament. The inquest may last six weeks; much of what went wrong could equally be identified in six minutes.

"The final ray of sunshine was obscured with the news that Manu Tuilagi, England’s real find of the World Cup campaign, ended his tournament with a police warning for jumping off a ferry returning to Auckland’s waterfront, after a day on Waiheke Island.

"It is not the gravest offence, although his swim to Pier 3 did necessitate a journey to Auckland central police station and further embarrassment for England’s management, but it merely reinforces the perception that what has unfolded in the southern hemisphere this last month is closer to Mike Tindall’s stag do than professional athletes striving to attain a world championship.

"Sadly, this tournament has felt like a cover version, a tribute to World Cup debacles past, perpetrated by England’s footballers"

In the Sydney Morning Herald Greg Growden finds beauty in the Wallabies rearguard action against South Africa.

"Thousands of jubilant Australian supporters joined in a rousing rendition of Waltzing Matilda that echoed around the Wellington Regional Stadium last night as the Wallabies desperately held on to beat the Springboks and ensure a World Cup semi-final encounter with the All Blacks next Sunday.

"The green and gold army's excitement was justified as this was the most courageous of Wallabies victories, as they were forced to defend virtually all night because they were unable to command any territory or possession.

"The defending World Cup champions, who were fielding their most experienced line-up, came close on countless occasions to score, but the Wallabies defence somehow held firm."

Bevan Rapson says that Wales and France have proved themselves as worthy semi-finalists and capable of lifting the Williams Webb Ellis Trophy in the New Zealand Herald.

"Any lingering Southern Hemisphere smugness must have finally evaporated on Saturday night, when Wales and France won with performances even a one-eyed New Zealander had to love.

"Nobody who saw these victories will ever again accept the notion that rugby up-over is a tedious knuckle-draggers' scrumfest."

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Mark Reason questions Australia's ambitions of reaching the World Cup final

"Boring, boring Australia. For the previous four years the Wallabies have been prancing about in their green and gold outfits like contestants on Strictly Come Dancing.

"But when it came to a match that really mattered, the Aussies played with the ambition and imagination of wombats. Is that all they have got?"

Toby Flood reflects on England's exit from the World Cup © Getty Images

Patrick Collins delivers a bruising assessment of England's flawed World Cup campaign in the Mail on Sunday.

"As the cruel old football chant has it: 'You're not very good!' It was a recurring theme last night, as a sorely abused and casually underestimated French team demonstrated the jarring facts of tournament rugby.

"France are highly unlikely to win the Webb Ellis Trophy; their faults are obvious, their essential spirit uncertain. But when they choose they can play at daunting pace and with rigorous precision.

"And last night, at all the important junctures of an absorbing match, they chose. For the best part of an hour, France produced a game that the English do not know."

Bath prop David Flatman, writing in the Independent on Sunday, maintains that France must receive much credit for their victory over England.

"We shouldn't be shell-shocked. After all, this is what France do. Their reputation for inconsistency verging on the schizophrenic is, as we've all now seen, very much deserved. Last week against Tonga they were quite appalling and sank to an unforgivable loss. Yesterday against England they were utterly magnificent.

"I, and most supposedly educated observers, thought this game would be won up front and that, in the end, an unapologetically lumpy English forward pack would come out ahead on points. Instead Les Bleus disregarded size and form and came out not like banshees, but like the team we all wanted to see a month ago: relentless in the tackle, imposing at the breakdown and almost kamikaze in their appetite to be the ones landing on any loose ball."

Wales legend Barry John picks out playmaker Rhys Priestland among the many highlights of Wales' so far successful World Cup campaign Walesonline

"And I can’t praise Rhys Priestland enough, He hit the post a couple of times, but these things happen and it was never going to affect the match.

"Priestland has come on in leaps and bounds and shown the justification of his selection ahead of Stephen Jones and James Hook.

"Jones will accept he is handing over the duties, while it is an extraordinary luxury to have Hook on the bench."

Centre Jamie Roberts revels in Wales' victory over Ireland but insists their attention is now focused on their semi-final with France Daily Mail.

"I can safely say that Saturday was one of the greatest days of my life. I know the rest of the team would agree and I don't mind admitting that I even shed a tear or two at the end.

"In rugby, you get to enjoy a few truly special moments and walking around the ground with the amazing Welsh fans cheering us is one that we will all remember. But once the cheering and singing had died down, we all understood that the job was only half done.

"We have achieved something special in qualifying for the semi-finals of the World Cup, something that Wales have done only once before. But that is not the end of it and we don't want to stop now. We are ambitious and we want to go all the way."

Wales impressed in their dismantling of Ireland © Getty Images

The New Zealand Herald's Dylan Cleaver backs the Welsh to reach the World Cup final.

"When Shane Williams took just two minutes to achieve what neither Australia nor Italy could achieve in 80, the complexion of the first quarter-final changed in a heartbeat.

It might sound wise after the fact, but in those minutes sparkling first few minutes, all the concerns Ireland brought into this World Cup resurfaced. They've never made a World Cup semifinal, most of this team will never get another chance.

Wales, on the other hand, have a crop of youngsters who have no history of heartbreak and no fear of defeat. The quick score just served to further embolden them."

The Dominion Post's Duncan Johnstone looks at a remarkable first couple of quarter-finals.

"Goodness, the world has been turned upside down! The rugby world that is - for 24 glorious hours.

The northern hemisphere quarterfinals played in Wellington and Auckland produced a brand of rugby rarely associated with anything north of the equator.

They have set up a France v Wales semifinal at Eden Park on Saturday night that should be a stunner if the two teams can hold their desire to play this scintillating brand of footy deeper into the tournament.

The biggest question mark will be over the French. After all their turmoil they turned up to play to night. And how!"

The Sydney Morning Herald's Spiro Zavos provides his take on the IRB's handling of the World Cup.

"Mike Miller, the chief executive of the IRB, has given 10 out of 10 for this year's Rugby World Cup tournament as eight teams prepare to play out the finals. This is a strong vote of confidence in the host union for the tournament, the NZRU. However, I was on a national current affairs program during the week and was asked what mark out of 10, given the NZRU's perfect 10, I would give the IRB.

My answer: ''I'd give the IRB one out of 10. That one point is because the IRB chairman, Bernard Lapasset, started his speech at the opening ceremony with a Maori welcome, something the New Zealand Prime Minister, John Key, neglected to do."

Will Sonny Bill be able to provide a threat from the wing? © Getty Images

The New Zealand Herald's Duncan Johnstone provides his take on Sonny Bill Williams starting on the wing for the All Blacks.

"The All Black theory to play Sonny Bill Williams on the wing against Argentina is that he's so dangerous when he gets the ball that the Pumas won't kick it to him.

I'm not so sure about that. In fact I'm pretty sure Williams will get a serious examination under the high ball at Eden Park on Sunday night.

I suspect the Pumas might see Williams as a weakness rather than a strength as he operates in relative isolation out on the wing.

They will want to see how quickly the big man can turn and chase and, of course, they will want to see how safe he is with an aerial bombardment raining down on him."

The New Zealand Herald's Bevan Rapson pays tribute to the characters lighting up the World Cup.

"Here's to the guys who say the unexpected. Things get pretty dreary when everybody sticks to their sanitised scripts but, happily, a few figures in and around this World Cup tournament have refused to do so.

Samoan midfielder Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, for example, has been not so much a loose cannon as a runaway trainload of assorted heavy artillery, careering from one incendiary tweet to another.

Whatever you think about his arguments - and his central point about the unfairness of the draw is indisputable - his fearlessness and brio have made a refreshing change from the cliches and caution we usually get from sportspeople, particularly in this country."

Former Wallabies legend Matt Burke, in his column for the Sydney Morning Herald, looks ahead to a weekend of knock-out rugby

"At quarter-final time you play the game with your bags packed. If you lose, you're on the next flight out. It's simple motivation to make sure you keep going for at least one more week.

The Wallabies are yet to play their best rugby. They got the win against Italy, struggled to throw in a change-up against Ireland, and the United States and Russia were all about getting confidence.

This tournament is about growing week to week. Has the team been doing this? You would have to say no. Why? Injuries don't help, having to shuffle positions and personnel and, to some degree, a loss in form are all contributors."

The Independent's Jim Lawton looks at a potentially World Cup defining weekend for Martin Johnson.

"It was as if Martin Johnson was already making his last stand here in a big hotel ballroom up the hill from the harbour. Dressed in training fatigues, sharp and terse as a champion about to enter the ring, he didn't so much announce a team selection – minus Mike Tindall – as draw a line.

For some time the furrows in his brow might have been created by tank tracks but not yesterday, not when he drew the battle lines that might well shape his professional future."

England winger Chris Ashton, talking to the Daily Mail's Martin Samuel, admits Saturday's quarter-final will be one of the most physical games of his career.

"Chris Ashton is stirring the froth on his cappuccino. Measured little circles at first, then bigger swirls as he grows more animated. ‘You’ve got to man up when you’re playing France,’ he insists, his cup now its own little whirlpool.

Ashton is considering a prediction by French No 8 and notorious hard case Imanol Harinordoquy. ‘I don’t know if there will be a lot of passing in this match,’ he said this week, ‘but there will be a lot of fighting.’

The calm before the storm: Chris Ashton relaxes before his first World Cup quarter-final
Harinordoquy is no friend of the English. ‘I hate them for their dismissiveness and arrogance,’ he once said. Ashton is considering it all. The hatred, the threats, the challenge of a quarter-final in Auckland."

Wales have impressed hugely in the World Cup so far © Getty Images

All Blacks legend Colin Mead is backs Wales to beat Ireland and progress to their first ever World Cup final, in the New Zealand Herald.

"While we'll all be looking for an All Blacks win against Argentina, there are some interesting quarter-final games this weekend, particularly Wales versus Ireland.

"I was with my brother Stan yesterday and we have a jug of beer riding on the result: I think Wales will win, and he's backing Ireland.

"Wales are very interesting. They've been playing pretty good rugby and were unlucky against South Africa when they lost 17-16 in Wellington. They won the rest of their pool games and had a huge game against Samoa, which they came out of pretty well.

"If they can get through against Ireland, I think they can go right through to the final."

In the Guardian Paul Rees gets to grips with the contentious subject of the balls being used at the Rugby World Cup.

"Braam van Straaten was talking balls at the Australia squad's hotel in Wellington on Thursday morning. Virtuo reality to put it another way.

"Is the ball being used in this tournament, the Gilbert Virtuo, a dud, as teams such as England have been claiming, with Jonny Wilkinson's success rate dropping by nearly 100% this tournament? Or is it, as the South Africa outside-half Morne Steyn contended this week, little different to the ones used in other tournaments and should not be blamed for a kicker's lack of accuracy?"

In the Sydney Morning Herald, Mike Robinson talks with Stephen Dods who coached Dan Carter and Colin Slade at schoolboy level and believes that Slade could be even better than his predecessor.

"Once Colin is settled into a team and a pattern, he's a very intelligent player, almost a perfectionist," he said. "He likes things to be just the way they should be and until they are sorted he can be hesitant. But once he feels part of the system, he never has a bad game. His only bad performances ever are at the start of his tenure.

"When he first came into the first XI cricket team here I moved him from the middle order to opening bat. He struggled for a while, but then he got so good he nearly gave away rugby for cricket. He is good enough to have played cricket for New Zealand at first or second wicket down.

"Colin could be better than Dan and then Dan might not get back in. When Grant Fox's time was coming to an end, people said what now? Then Andrew Mehrtens came along. When he went wonky Dan showed up. People come along."

Wales assistant coach Shaun Edwards, writing in the Guardian, believes that Martin Johnson has made the right call in pairing Toby Flood with Jonny Wilkinson in the England midfield.

"With Mike Tindall injured, it seems to me that Martin Johnson has decided to put his best players on the field. The England manager could have put Shontayne Hape alongside Tuilagi and created a brick wall, but instead he has looked at the French midfield, which has not been asking too many questions so far, and decided to risk reducing defence a little to increase the attacking options.

"England have conceded just the one try so far and, while Maxime Mermoz is a clever player and one you would never underestimate, Aurélien Rougerie has been less than impressive as a threat even before he damaged his shoulder. Like so many of the French, he hasn't played.

"Now we all know that France can surprise everyone, but my experience of French players is that they put in those big performances when they really buy into what they are doing. If they are less than 100% focused then forget it and England could be looking to take the game away fairly early on by using their left-right midfield option to bring strike runners either through the middle or down the outside if French defenders get sucked in."

Writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, Queensland Reds coach Ewen McKenzie has been impressed with the attacking rugby on display at the Rugby World Cup.

"What has caught my attention has been the amount of tries scored and the number of big scorelines. While many use this to raise questions about the tournament's competitiveness, for me, it signals the willingness of teams to attack and not just defend.

T"hat's not to say defence isn't having an influence but, unlike some previous World Cups, it's nice to see teams like Canada scoring multiple tries against the All Blacks, and Russia crossing the paint three times against the Wallabies.

"A big reason behind this is teams are embracing the adjustments made to the laws nearly two years ago. Changes to encourage attacking, and alterations made largely to rules at the breakdown were initially met with resistance - and ridiculed in the northern hemisphere - but have resulted in rugby becoming more attractive.

"Teams that haven't become more sophisticated with attacking strategies and skills are being left behind and, largely, have not progressed into the knockout round."

Samoa's Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu has engulfed the wrath of the IRB © Getty Images

Georgina Robinson, in the Sydney Morning Herald, argues that the International Rugby Board have made some bad calls in recent weeks.

"The All Blacks would be ''replaceable'' at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, a player banned indefinitely for not attending a disciplinary hearing and another fined $10,000 for wearing a branded mouthguard.

"Comments and rulings, such as these, that emerged from the International Rugby Board yesterday did little to help the governing body win the public relations battle at the code's showpiece event."

The New Zealand's Gregor Paul believes the All Blacks must throw the dice and gamble with Israel Dagg as Dan Carter's successor.

"The radical but potentially inspired selection at No 10 would be Israel Dagg. It reeks a little of madness to play him there but there is always that fine line between genius and insanity.

"Dagg has a booming boot; he is quick off the mark and can attack the line from unconventional angles. He can tackle; he can drop into backfield to play fullback and he can pass. He's never played there before but that excites more than it concerns. He's such a gifted player, gifted sportsman with such a good temperament for the big stage, he's not likely to be thrown by the switch.

"The coaches would have to be prepared to be hammered and accused of losing it - but hey, All Black fullbacks have little history of playing at fullback at World Cups."

Writing in The Scotsman, David Ferguson says that Scotland's exit is all the more painful with the knowledge that they were good enough to progress to the quarter-finals.

"The final group of Scotland players and management departed Auckland last night and left their World Cup dreams behind them.

"It has been a tough experience for a squad that appeared to be as strong and talented as any that had gone before them, and it will be rammed home this weekend when a so-far sluggish England take on a faltering France in the quarter-finals, and Ireland and Wales go head-to-head, while Argentina, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa come together in an appetising business-end of the tournament. There is nothing worse than knowing you could have been there, and there was no doubt that this Scotland team had the ability to join them."

Writing in the Guardian, Paul Rees says that civil war is breaking out a the Rugby Football Union with acting chief executive Martyn Thomas coming under increasing pressure.

England's build-up to their biggest game since 2007 is being overshadowed by a fresh outbreak of political infighting at Twickenham, where civil war has been raging for most of the year. As Martin Johnson's team prepare to face France in Saturday's World Cup quarter-final, moves are gathering pace to oust Martyn Thomas as acting chief executive of the Rugby Football Union.

Thomas's position is looking increasingly precarious after two developments this week. Rebels on the governing body's council and among the clubs are looking for him to stand down for his part in the removal of John Steele as chief executive last summer.

Thomas has survived a vote of no confidence at a council meeting, prompted by criticisms of his actions in the months leading to the departure of Steele that were levelled at him by a five-man inquiry panel set by the council to look to why and how Steele was sacked, led by the RFU's chief disciplinary officer, Jeff Blackett.

Ireland flanker Sean O'Brien has been one of the standout performers in the tournament so far © Getty Images

Gregor Paul of the New Zealand Herald is growing increasingly appreciative of the threat posed by Declan Kidney's men.

"They have beaten Australia, sliced the Italians and played convincing rugby yet how many people truly believe Ireland can win this World Cup? How many New Zealanders can see the Irish lifting the Webb Ellis Cup in a few weeks?

"There is an in-built southern hemisphere superiority complex. The winner, so everyone domiciled south of the Equator believes, will come from the All Blacks' side of the draw. If it's not New Zealand then it's either going to be South Africa or Australia who triumphs. Let's be honest - that's what we all think. Secretly, or not so secretly, Kiwis, Australians and South Africans don't rate the Celts. They are wary but not fearful of them."

Writing in The Independent, James Lawton takes the England wing to task for asking the media to let go, when an analysis of a chain of mishaps and underperformance is bound to give a nod to cause and effect

"It could be that any day now the England team will come down from its parallel universe and get properly involved in this seventh World Cup of rugby. Maybe the French will do it too, in which case their quarter-final this Saturday might warrant something more cheery than a full-scale autopsy.

"In the meantime, we should maybe refrain from falling over ourselves with optimism. Not, certainly, if the comments of Mark Cueto are about anything more than a defensive reflex.

"The worry, though, is that Cueto, who has among his credentials the probability that he was unjustly denied potentially one of the most significant tries in the history of the English game, actually believed what he was saying when he asserted yesterday that the two most egregious of the many examples of unprofessionalism his squad have displayed over the last few weeks should really be seen as 'bonding experiences'."

Gerry Thornley of the Irish Times hails the welcome return of some incision to Ireland's play behind the scrum in Sunday's victory over Italy.

"Where did that back play come from? While there had been hints of a revival in Ireland’s back play amid a New Plymouth downpour against the USA, and outstanding though the win was against Australia as well as some of the finishing against Russia, the most encouraging aspect of the victory over Italy was the new-found clinical nature and general attacking play of the front-line backs.

"At times the Irish backs became a little too lateral in the first half, and twice revived memories of August by running over the left hand touchline. But even in the try-less first-half there was a noticeably better shape to their running game, with depth augmented by plenty of inside balls and trailer runners to change the point of attack to keep the Italian defence guessing.

"With Sean O’Brien (eh, 14 carries at number seven) and Stephen Ferris as target runners, by rights it should have been rewarded with a try when Tommy Bowe ran one of his trailers on to the flanker’s offload to touch down under the posts.

"In any event, at half-time, they regrouped and became a bit more direct in the second half, the net effect being that they created the space out wide before going wide, and didn’t run out of field by going over the touchline again."

Wales coach's controversial history with the Irish provides an intriguing backdrop to quarter-final showdown, writes Hugh Farrelly in the Irish Independent.

"Warren Gatland's influence is crucial to the outcome of this contest. Back on home turf, the Hamilton man has been having a very good, very relaxed tournament and he fancies the Irish.

"They are, obviously, a rugby nation he knows well from his time with Galwegians, Connacht and with the national team and Gatland understands the psyche, strengths and weaknesses of the Irish game.

"Gatland's coaching career has been defined by its green hue. Coaching Wasps to beat Munster in '04 was a huge achievement, steering Wales past Ireland in Croke Park in '08 gave them the belief to go on and claim the Grand Slam against France and, going back to the nightmare of Lens in 1999 has surely influenced and girded Gatland for his second World Cup challenge 12 years later."

In his column in The Guardian, Shaun Edwards argues that Marc Lievremont has lost the respect of his players and now must hand control over to them.

"There are times when a coach has to ask himself whether he's doing more harm than good. Whether it's better to take a step back for the good of the team.

"Things get scrambled at press conferences and the language issue obviously doesn't help when the coach speaks in French and the majority of the media at this World Cup speaks English, but if only half the things coming out of the France camp are true, then it might be time for Marc Lièvremont to swallow his pride, move to the sidelines for the next five days and let his players look after themselves.

"If that sounds like a crazy idea, then I can assure you that such extreme methods not only work on occasions, but that they are sometimes the only way to turn a team around. And France need turning if they are to put up any kind of performance against England on Saturday."

Dan Carter suffered a tournament-ending injury in training on Saturday © Getty Images

Chris Rattue of the New Zealand Herald believes that the loss of Dan Carter injury is such a blow for the All Blacks because head coach Graham Henry has failed so miserably to unearth an adequate understuday for the mercurial fly-half.

"The Grand Canyon of holes in the All Blacks' Rugby World Cup planning has been exposed, make no mistake about that.

"The worry now for the nation of broken rugby dreams is that the quick-fix recovery operation is to be guided by the mad backline professor responsible for digging this hole in the first place.

"There have been many wonderful sports photos over the years where simplicity creates the dramatic effect and tells the story. The one published on this page showing Daniel Carter crumpled on the turf, his groin torn apart during a simple goalkicking session, easily makes this grade. Should the All Blacks fail on their latest World Cup mission, this will be a photo for the ages.

"What a great shame for the tournament, to lose one of its few superstars and probably the world's best player. As for the All Blacks - total disaster. The only silver lining is that it did not occur during a major match. So step up Colin Slade, or will it be Piri Weepu, Aaron Cruden, or Isaia Toeava, or someone else?"

Fred Woodcock of the Dominion Post salutes Warren Gatland's troops for their dynamism and attacking endeavour.

"Thank goodness for the Welsh - at least one of the four teams on the likely all-Six Nations half of the quarterfinal draw is watchable.

"England and France have been dreary at this World Cup and probably deserve to be on flights to London and Paris tonight such has been the dismal rugby they've produced, but instead we have to sit through a quarterfinal between those teams next week (the worst aspect of that will be that one of them will make it to the semifinals).

"The other likely quarterfinal on that half will be the ambitious Welsh against Ireland (if the latter were to beat Italy later tonight). Ireland were ferocious in beating Australia but aside from that they have hardly fired and they are very much a team that will deal in threes in the big matches."

Once is careless, twice recklessly stupid, but three times? That speaks of a much bigger problem, writes Paul Ackford in The Telegraph.

"The latest scandal to engulf England, James Haskell verbally abusing a female hotel worker at the team hotel in Dunedin, preceded Mike Tindall’s drunken night out which itself came before Dave Alred and Paul Stridgeon were rebuked for trying to get preferred balls on to the pitch in the Romania game.

"In isolation each of these incidents could be explained away, excused even.

"Martin Johnson leapt to that defence when he tried to play down the Tindall incident. “Rugby player drinks beer shocker”, the England manager said. And some of us bought into that rationalisation because it was Johnson and he has credibility as a grumpy bloke who frowns on errant behaviour."

Writing in the New Zealand Herald, Wallabies legend Nick Farr-Jones gives All Black fans grounds for optimism after the loss of their star fly-half to injury.

"You could have knocked me over with a feather when news reached Sydney yesterday that All Black Dan Carter had suffered a Rugby World Cup tournament-ending injury. At first I thought, 'They have got this wrong and mean just the one game against Canada.' But news item after news item was led by the confirmation even on league grand final day here across the Ditch.

"Texts started to flow as the reality of losing arguably the tournament's most valuable player began to sink in.

"And for all you Kiwis wondering how the news went down over this side of the Tasman, can I say sincerely that every Aussie I communicated with was genuinely saddened for Carter and the All Black team."

Martin Samuel of the Daily Mail is dismayed by the latest sordid scandal to rock Martin Johnson's squad.

"England might as well try to win this Rugby World Cup, because they certainly will not be winning anything else in New Zealand: friends, plaudits, hearts and minds, awards for sophisticated behaviour around women.

"Another day, another crisis, but this one cuts to the heart of changing attitudes in a changing game.

"Nobody expects rugby players to move through life with the elegance of Cary Grant, but to end up talking to an inexperienced female member of the hotel staff through her lawyers is a pretty low point.

"The players may dispute the precise nature of what is alleged to have taken place at the Southern Cross hotel, Queenstown, but the reaction of manager Martin Johnson suggests it fell vastly short of the standards required."

Jonny Wilkinson suffered another forgettable night with the boot against Scotland © Getty Images

England captain Lewis Moody accepts some of the blame for Jonny Wilkinson's mixed kicking performance against Scotland, in the Mail on Sunday.

"I know people will be pointing the finger at Jonny Wilkinson after he missed a few kicks but there is one thing I won't spend one second doubting and that's Jonny's ability to kick goals.

"I blame myself a little for his statistics against Scotland. He is the sort of goal-kicker who always backs himself, always says he will nail it.

"But, looking back, there were one or two penalties against Scotland when I should have told him to kick for the corner rather than trying for three points."

Former England international Mike Catt calls for Martin Johnson to drop his old midfield team-mate Mike Tindall for England's quarter-final against France, in the Sunday Telegraph.

"It’s time for Jonny Wilkinson and Toby Flood to play in the same side, with Mike Tindall giving way. A tough call I know, but after watching yesterday’s fortuitous victory over Scotland, Johnno must make the biggest call of the competition.

"I mention 2003 because there is a certain symmetry about the next seven days and what happened eight years. On that occasion, Clive Woodward made the call to play myself and Jonny in the semi against France. He left Mike (Tindall) on the bench because he felt that if Jonny was picked as the only viable kicking option, France would get at him.

"He based his decision on fact. Two years prior to the semi-final in Sydney, Jonny had been destroyed by the French. He had fought a lone battle and lost. He was the only kicking option on that occasion and they were successful in targeting him. Clive picked me at centre so we had a second option. It took the pressure off Jonny and we all know what happened – we won quite comfortably and booked our place in the final. I was back on the bench in Sydney, but I felt I played my part."

Tom English reflects on Scotland's emotional exit from the World Cup in The Scotsman.

"Utter devastation. Nathan Hines in tears and being consoled by his team-mates. Dan Parks in tears and being comforted by other team-mates; two men, among many, in despair.

"There were Scots wandering around in a jaded and heart-breaking stupor; Sean Lamont sinking to his knees, Chris Paterson staring at the floor and then, soon after, the clincher of a team photograph, everybody, for some unknown reason, being asked to line up for the camera, with faces so grim that they'd haunt a house. A Kodak moment it was not."

Writing in the New Zealand Herald, Gregor Paul rates Graham Henry as the best head coach of the professional era, controversially dismissing the claims of World Cup winning coaches Clive Woodward, Jake White and Rod MacQueen.

When it comes to appointing international coaches, no administrative panel looks beyond experience and success. On those two critical measures, Graham Henry is not only the most successful All Black coach of the professional era - he is world rugby's most successful coach.

Contemporaries who have enjoyed time in the sun, earned respect and global reputations - Clive Woodward, Bernard Laporte, Robbie Deans, Warren Gatland, Nick Mallett, Rod MacQueen, Jake White - don't even get close.

Graham Henry has mellowed during his time as All Blacks coach, according to Tana Umaga © Getty Images

Former All Blacks skipper Tana Umaga hails his former coach Graham Henry ahead of his 100th game in charge of New Zealand in the New Zealand Herald.

My first encounters with Graham Henry left me a little uncertain. He was autocratic, sure of his ability, he knew what he wanted and how he was going to get there. But he has changed, he has made big shifts in the way he leads the All Blacks, in how he works and what he delivers to the team.

Henry has a reservoir of knowledge but is always looking to build on that, he is relentless in his pursuit of the next level and he has a compassionate side the players enjoy.

Stacking up 100 tests coaching the All Blacks tomorrow is a massive achievement and along the way he has received great support from wife Raewyn, other members of his family and the wider All Blacks group.

Writing in the New Zealand Herald Andrew Austin believes South Africa will be a serious threat to the All Blacks' ambitions of lifting the Rugby World Cup.

The great Springbok Houdini act, so successful in the last Rugby World Cup, continued in Albany last night.

The Samoans were courageous, if at times a little ill disciplined, but they simply could not breach a superb defensive line enough to win.

The high-flying All Blacks may be the team to beat, but they will be aware that they probably will have to run through a green and gold brick wall in the semi finals to do so.

In the Sydney Morning Herald Spiro Zavos attacks fellow hack and Sunday Times rugby writer Stephen Jones for his "damaging" reporting on the game.

The Basil Fawlty of British rugby writing, Stephen Jones, has blundered into the row between the New Zealand Rugby Union and the International Rugby Board with a typical silly-walks piece of writing. According to Jones, the chief executive of the NZRU, Steve Tew, is "barking up the wrong tree" in suggesting that the business model of the World Cup tournament penalises New Zealand and Australian rugby by more than $30 million each cup year, and that the model must be changed....

Jones is influential because he is the rugby correspondent of The Sunday Times. For decades this splendid newspaper has featured intelligent writing by giants of the rugby press benches such as Vivian Jenkins. Jones has consistently demeaned this bully pulpit with his attacks on New Zealand and Australian rugby. His fellow rugby writers around the world have explained away this perpetual ranting by saying that he doesn't really mean what he says, that he is just "revving up" the New Zealand and Australian rugby public. This does not wash with me. The rants cannot be justified. He is damaging the world game.