READ MORE:
• Springboks seal spot in Rugby World Cup quarterfinals by crushing Canada
• 2019 Rugby World Cup: How the All Blacks are dealing with homesickness in Japan
• 2019 Rugby World Cup: All Blacks assistant coach Ian Foster says Super Typhoon Hagibis could disrupt travel plans
• 2019 Rugby World Cup: Meet the wives, partners and girlfriends of the All Blacks
"What is the upshot of this little vignette? First off Barrett should have got a yellow, Read arguably a red and Williams a yellow and Poite should have awarded Canada a penalty try.
"New Zealand are difficult enough to beat at the best of times but because they cheat with impunity and such breathtaking cynicism and referees let them do it, they are even more difficult to overcome."
"If there is a rugby Heaven and Hell, Richie McCaw, who lifted two World Cups, will probably be sitting at the right hand of God whereas in the real world he should be down in the bowels of Hell with demons sticking hot pokers up his arse and Martin Johnson for company.
"They cheat, they cheat, and they cheat! And they are let away with it time after time!"
However despite the diatribe, Francis went onto say that the All Blacks willingness to push the limits in a pool match against a much-weaker opposition is what makes champions.
"In a match of little consequence to them, which they were going to win heavily against amateur opposition, they were prepared to do anything, absolutely anything, to ensure their line was not crossed. That my friends is the difference between champions and pretenders," he said.
Earlier in the tournament Irish rugby writer Ewan MacKenna, who also works for the Independent, called for a stop to the All Blacks haka, saying it "gives New Zealand an unfair advantage".
In a column titled 'Haka gives New Zealand an unfair advantage and needs to stop' on sports website Pundit Arena, MacKenna asked why the World Cup is still "pandering to the dance".
"That's unfortunate as New Zealand are justifiably big-headed enough without a massaging of their already massive egos," MacKenna wrote.
"Yet even World Rugby have it in their rules that to not stand on your own 10-metre line and watch a bunch stick out their tongues and slap their thighs is worthy of a fine and a telling off.
"Indeed if we are to engage in these cultural activities in rugby, perhaps Ireland's opponents should have to spend a few minutes watching our players sitting around a table in midfield, sipping cups of tea and bemoaning everything from economic migrants to the latest bin charges."
MacKenna said the haka had "been ruthlessly exploited and commercialised and ultimately cheapened".
"That's not to say it doesn't have beauty and meaning to Maoris [sic], but Irish dancing can having meaning to us and that doesn't change the fact that it was monetised by Michael Flatley turning to liquid plastic on stage."
After taking shots at the haka, MacKenna went on to attempt to describe the practical reasons why the traditional challenge gives New Zealand an advantage.
"There's a practical reason why the Haka shouldn't happen as, while it provides a psychological edge through self-inspiration and via an attempt at opponent intimidation, it also provides a small physical edge as others are forced to stand still and go briefly cold.
"There's another reason too though as there is a huge lack of self-awareness about this. Again there are those who'll say it's native and it is to some, but the majority of New Zealand players haven't been Maori. Instead, they descend from forefathers who were actually ruthless oppressors of natives.
"Anyway, it's completely overdone. In rugby, and in life. A New Zealand graduation or homecoming, a wedding afters or merely a boozed-up night out, it seems, can barely pass by without a YouTube video emerging of a man leaping about with all the authenticity of a Blackrock College conversation detailing both tillage methodology and livestock vaccination."