I desperately want England to win the World Cup but I actually want it a little more knowing that RLFANS will go into meltdown at the thought of Sir Steve McNamara!

I am not blaming Sinfield for the loss, he had a fine game up until then. However being captain, halfback and England's most experienced player, he committed two fundamental errors in the most crucial passages of play. Basics that are drilled into you as a kid (well at least growing up in Aus this was the case). Have a read... www.theroar.com.au/2013/11/24/si ... w-zealand/

I am not blaming Sinfield for the loss, he had a fine game up until then. However being captain, halfback and England's most experienced player, he committed two fundamental errors in the most crucial passages of play. Basics that are drilled into you as a kid (well at least growing up in Aus this was the case). Have a read... www.theroar.com.au/2013/11/24/si ... w-zealand/

That article also says that up until the last minute or so he'd played a near perfect game. Perhaps if he had a halfback partner who was able to shoulder more responsibility he'd have been mentally fresher in the last two minutes? Or if he hadn't made twice as many tackles as any other halfback on the field?

The things that I'll remember him doing from that game are two lovely passes which led directly to tries. The errors at the end were costly, but overall that was the best performance by a British halfback in 20 years IMO (please don't raise Long's Sydney effort - that was a dead match as far as the Aussies were concerned, not a WC semi final with everything on the line).

Its a real shame he isn't 2/3 years younger because the confidence he would have gained from his overall performance would have made him an absolute standout, particularly if Widdopp kicks on.

I've criticised Sinfield in the past for not being a world class stand off - I was wrong. Plain and simple.

Indeed.

Those happy to point the finger at Sinfield for being the reason England lost, need to consider that he was also a large part of the reason they were in the lead in the last minute to start with.

The ball for Sam Burgess was sublime - a little juggle off the original pass, but then recovered quickly enough to dummy the defender and still get a sympathetic pass away.

Had Ben Westwood been able to keep hold of the ball when attempting to ground it for example, Sinfield's missed tackle at the end would have been a matter of consolation only for the Kiwis.

When you posted that, my mind shot back to Goulding's performance against Australia at Wembley, when Edwards had been sent off. Then I realised that was 19 years ago. I must be getting old.

(Wasn't Long's performance in Sydney a 1st test?)

It was GB's first test but Australia's 3rd. They had already beaten NZ twice and were in the final.