KEY POINTS:
One of the All Blacks' enduring complaints at this tournament has been dismissed as 'balls'. The manufacturer and the International Rugby Board, after vociferous complaints from New Zealand, have cleared the Gilbert Synergie ball being used here.
Dan Carter, Nick Evans and Luke McAlister have all complained about the quality of ball they have been allocated for practice, while Graham Henry labelled it a "dog".
The English company, which lays claim to having supplied the first rugby balls, is known to have been privately seething over the slur.
Ian Savage of Gilbert told the Herald on Sunday: "I can state categorically that the balls the All Blacks are using in practice are the same as what are being used in a match."
Although no official complaint had been made by any of the participating teams, Rugby World Cup Limited requested that Gilbert investigate the matter after the comments from New Zealand.
Balls were taken from the New Zealand allocation and were then lab-tested and kick tested by the manufacturer.
It has been concluded that any perceived differences reported can be explained by incorrect inflation and natural wear and tear.
All Black superstar Carter has had a poor kicking percentage at this World Cup but Gray would not be drawn on whether this was the reason behind his comments.
"I can't comment on why he made those comments," Gray said, "but the balls we've had back from the All Blacks were exactly the same as the match balls. There was no difference."
In a press release, Gilbert sales and marketing director Richard Gray said the furore had been damaging.
Even this week the All Blacks were reported to be still unhappy with the quality of their practice balls.
Their main argument is they don't fly true like the balls they use on match day, making quality kicking practice difficult.
