Yesterday my son and I were present to watch an outstanding game of rugby league - one which we should all be proud of. At the final whistle, we both sat stunned for at least 30 minutes, unable to speak.

We should have won the match, of that there is no doubt. We lost because we didn't fully take our chances. Ryan Hall, the best winger in super league (and I'm a Saints fan so that's a real compliment!) missed a couple of chances which normally he would have taken easily and Kevin Sinfield (the best club captain and goal kicker in super league) missed a conversion which he would normally have kicked, wearing a blindfold.

Do I blame any of the England players for the defeat? Not a bit! They were all magnificent, a real credit to our game and they provided a sporting spectacle which must have thrilled millions of BBC viewers.

StevieMac had the guts to drop Rangi Chase - a player most people really didn't want in the team (but only because he's not English!) so credit to him for that. StevieMac should therefore stay on as England manager because, although some of his earlier PR stuff was a bit "embarassing", he defended his position energetically when telling the press to concentrate on the rugby and not on the silly off-field stuff. He's obviously very enthusiastic about the game and comes across on TV as honest, likeable and ENGLISH!

The players must be feeling much worse than we fans because, apart from not taking all the chances which came their way, they must know they did enough to win easily. We were much better than New Zealand on the day (apart from position kicking) but we lost because of a couple of minor errors.

England rugby league team please take a bow. You were magnificent - and thanks for the memory of one of the greatest matches I've seen in over 50 years of watching the game I love.

Great credit also to the organisers of the World Cup. It was superb from the start but now perhaps Red Hall should start to think about how to capitalise on what to do next? We badly need more competitive international rugby league -such as TriNations and/or GB versus Australia test matches to maintain the tempo of what has recently attracted such great interest in all parts of the UK.

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.