Surely the referee and linesmen can pick up blatant foul play and the judiciary is there to rule on things not spotted at the time, like Mariano Galarzo's eye gouge on Brodie Retallick during the Argentina game.
The officiating has the potential to ruin this World Cup and I've often imagined what it must be like for someone who has never seen rugby before to watch these games. It's hardly been riveting.
It's clearly not suiting the All Blacks and the guys came off the field after the Namibia game hardly looking like they had played.
It's really hard to find a rhythm when the game stops so much and we all know New Zealand's game is based on speed. All I can hope is that by the time we get to the knockout phases, the teams remaining will all want to play a more up-tempo style as well.
It won't suit the likes of Australia and South Africa either if they can't find any rhythm.
It's been said tier two nations are getting closer to the top sides but I wonder if it is more the fact they are so well coached now, they are smarter at slowing the game.
Japan coach Eddie Jones said this week rugby is getting tougher because players are bigger and faster but the field is still the same size. The game needs to find a way to ensure players are fatigued, so gaps can be found, and the influence of the TMO is having the opposite effect at the moment.
There has been a little bit of angst around the performances of the All Blacks in their two games but they have been fine.
Argentina are a good side and the All Blacks found a way to grind them down and we should celebrate that.
The Namibia game was scrappy but it was a contest and they would have got a lot more out of that than if it had ended up being something closer to a sevens run-around.
People wouldn't have been happy if the All Blacks had put 100 points on them and by putting only 50 points on Namibia, they weren't happy we won by 100.
We have to hope the All Blacks will be firing by the quarter-finals. Just like the match officials.
