Why do you think the All Blacks lost?

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We were told it was the best team...the best players...the best coach .... so: Why do you think the All Blacks lost?

Meanwhile defeated all Blacks are being offered grief counselling by their "mental skills coach", Gilbert Enoka, to help them "work through" the devastating World Cup loss to France.

And the All Blacks coaching panel are believed to have pointed the finger of blame for the team's World Cup failure squarely at quarterfinal referee Wayne Barnes.

Here is the latest selection of Your Views:

Terry (England)
Monday February 11, 2008 I would like to claim the last post on this record breaking thread! It has been brilliant to read these comments over the last few weeks. Congratulations to all NZ fans. Your passion for the game is fantastic and an example to us all! Good luck in 2011.

Anti-haka ()
Monday February 11, 2008 The history of All Black World Cup losses save for 1995 have been due to Coaching / Selector bias of one kind or another. I like many enjoyed the Phoenix v Galaxy soccer game with a huge crowd of men and women. So, watch out rugby. If the All Blacks cannot rebrand themselves away from the violent ugliness of the cut-throat haka positively towards rugby with players who can sing the national anthem and be proud of it, rugby is simply doomed. All Blacks win caps not beanies Tana. Graeme Henry failed to realise the strong history of the All Blacks is not a mosaic South Pacific team based on disproportional representation by Islanders that have never come close to winning a World Cup. His love for the Pacific Islander style should lead him to a coaching job for Fiji or Samoa.

(Dublin, Ireland)
Monday February 11, 2008 Puerile arrogance and one eyed whinging aren't the preserve of the Kiwi rugby fans or Aussies or English or indeed my own compatriots, the Irish. There seems to be plenty of it to go around. I think Richie McCaw's post match interview was most gracious and mannerly, given that he must have been emotionally crushed by events. Had I been in his position, I wouldn't have been able to talk. WB and his TJs certainly missed a forward pa** for the 2nd French try. Who knows what the outcome might have been if that try had been disallowed? It's perfectly legitimate for Kiwi fans to be steaming about it given the actual outcome. However, it's also indisputable that NZ still had 12 mins, in which they largely owned the ball, to drop a goal or revert to the free flowing and winning rugby they'd played in the 1st half. McAlister blatantly blocked his French opponent and it's silly to argue otherwise. A penalty was fair but should there have been a yellow card as well? IMO there should have been because of the previous infringement but I can understand why you might disagree on the grounds of harshness as was subsequently mooted by Paddy O'Brien.

Scrummie (England)
Monday February 11, 2008 The all blacks lost because they and their coaches made crucial errors:-
1. Too much rotation of too many great players. 2. As in the past, peaked before a tournament. 3. Believed their publicity and thought all they had to do was turn up and it was theirs. 4. Have a history of choking and could not get past that psychological disadvantage. 5. Clever bernard laporte gave his team psychological edge by describing all blacks as just 15 guys in shorts and shirts. 7. Did not look remotely scary wearing grey doing new haka. 8. Did not want to win as much as france. 9. Nothing will change for all blacks if they do not acknowledge it was not english ref that lost them the game, but players themselves. 10. Very easy pool games placed them at disadvantage. 11. Finally, made the fatal error of forgetting that for the french, anything is possible.

Rightwayupman ()
Monday February 11, 2008 It's easy: because the best team won. As a disappointed Englishman, I can admit that it would have been a travesty for England to have beaten SA in the final: they were clearly the strongest team in a really fantastic tournament, as the early matches showed. The All Blacks knew that in their soul and went down to an inspired France.