KEY POINTS:
The jersey debacle bodes well for the IRB's summit meeting about an integrated global season. That will also be chaired by Blind Freddie.
For all their flaws, it seemed colour-blindness was not on the list of IRB sports crimes. However the farce about the jersey clashes in Cardiff and for the All Blacks pool game against Scotland has been extraordinary.
The saga spluttered on after All Black manager Darren Shand lost a coin toss which meant his side were asked to wear their alternate silver-grey jersey because their traditional uniform clashed with France's new inky-blue black strip.
Not everyone was convinced that was the best solution. The tournament broadcasters, ITV, remained concerned about the jarring new jerseys and filmed them at a suburban Cardiff rugby ground to make sure.
Photographs were also sent to World Cup officials. Officials from both sides saw the chance to agitate in an escalating manufacturers' turf war.
Nike sponsor France and there is no doubt around the All Blacks camp they changed the Tricolores uniform to create a problem with the adidas-sponsored All Black strip.
And the longer the delay, the stronger the All Blacks' case to play in their traditional colour.
Every World Cup team sent two sets of their jerseys last year to World Cup officials for inspection to avoid this sort of confusion.
How the mess was not sorted out then is baffling. Maybe the clothes police were interested in only measuring logos on the jerseys or the size of the stitching and overlooked any colour clashes.
It became a sideshow which threatened to take the gloss off an already shabby decision to stage a quarter-final in Cardiff. The players largely ignored the issue although the French did wonder about their supporters having to chant their chants to Allez Blanc.
Meanwhile there was no word from the IRB, the sporting czars who meet after this tournament to solve an integrated international schedule.
If they couldn't sort the jersey chaos at Murrayfield for Scotland's home match against the All Blacks, what hope in Cardiff?
Forget the coin toss and tournament rules because they were clearly defective.
New Zealand should have played in their traditional black while the French should have been made to wear their alternate strip.
