Officials of World Rugby claimed last night that footage from a reverse camera angle have cleared Richie McCaw, the All Black captain, of foul play. There had been major cause for concern as a result of video footage that went viral overnight following the first World Cup semi-finals seemed to show McCaw elbowing Springbok flanker Francois Louw.

“There will be no citings from yesterday’s match. The reverse angle shows that it was his hip that made contact and that his elbow made no contact,” World Rugby spokesman Dominic Rumbles said, however.

He added that the unusual decision to comment on something that had not happened was down to the high level of public interest.