Looked like they were taking it easy. I don't blame them, it was a comfortable win for us anyway. No point getting injured in a game like this.
It became a dead rubber. I was also disappointed that the second half was pretty dull, but thinking deeper, we played a safe game, changed to appropriate tactics by kicking into the corners more, and we got out with a safe win... got to be happy with that.
Agreed. Never felt the TMO is detracting from the game before until this World Cup. Lots of minor things that they have stopped the game for long after they happened that none of the refs spotted. Breaking the flow of play up as much as the usual scrum reset nonsense in some cases!
Refs also don't seem capable of making any decisions by themselves which is something I haven't seen before either. How many times have they asked both touch judges and the TMO if they all agree with the decision before making it?
May as well have a whistle in the overhead camera and let a truck full of TMOs make the decisions from home!
It is frustrating, but I sympathise with the refs feeling under pressure after World Rugby threw them under the bus after the first week, and the likes of Cheika are getting airtime complaining over decisions. The Times had a very accurate headline today that many coaches and ex-players refuse to face... "High tackles will ruin the World Cup, not red cards". Underhill, Curry and the entire Japan team have demonstrated that tackles do not need to be high to be effective... those teams that refuse to accept the current rules and adapt accordingly deserve to be punished.