Apart from the typically snide suggestions that World Rugby is now looking to reverse the points for penalties and tries, it really is up to the Six Nations countries, particularly England and France with their splash-the-cash domestic competitions, to figure out a way of playing better rugby.
Here's just one thought to take with you: stop paying over the odds for either mediocre or retirement-planning antipodeans. What you're doing there is the classic lose-lose scenario: you're hurting yourselves by denying your own talent opportunities; and you're helping places like New Zealand by ensuring there is a constant refreshing of the young talent that enlivens our game.
There, that consultation is gratis, but I'm going to start charging from now on.
On to the Rankings*.
Previous rankings:
The quarter-finalists
Week 4:
Week 3
Week 2
Week 1
You simply cannot deny them favouritism now. Now should the All Blacks recoil from it. Embrace it. In 80 incandescent minutes, New Zealand showed there's not a team in the world that can live with them when they're on song... except maybe South Africa. Don't mistake that for Rankings thinking that this is a great Springbok team, but they do have a never-say-die attitude that the French nearly replicated - all except the "never" bit.
No team has come within eight tries of the 34 they have scored - more than a quarter of them against France - but just as pleasing, only Wales (3), have conceded less than the four the All Blacks have.
Really hard to objectively assess Australia after they were handed the ultimate get-out-of-jail-free card against the Scots. They have shown vulnerability in their two Celtic encounters but tellingly, the combination of Michael Hooper (out against Wales) and Pocock (out against Scotland) has not been in force. Rankings would e loathe to start writing their obituary. They have had the wood on Argentina of late and will go into the semifinal as slight favourites, especially if Pocock and Israel Folau are back on deck.
For such a talented back division, Australia (9) have scored the fewest tries with a genesis outside the opposition 22m. Even accounting for two soft let-ins against Scotland via an intercept and a miscommunication at the ruck, the Wallabies have conceded just five tries to date.
What impressed Rankings the most in their quarter-final demolition of Ireland wasn't the quality of their tries, although some were breath-taking, but the temperament they displayed when things weren't going their way. When Argentina rushed to a 17-0 lead and Ireland clawed their way back to a 20-23 deficit by kicking the ball and attacking the breakdown, Argentina of old would have folded under the weight of Jerome Garces whistle. The 2015 version just dug in and got better. That indicates a well-coached, well-led team where clear-thinking has far greater currency than the clichéd Latin passion.
Nobody scores more tries from inside their own half than Los Pumas, with a staggering 13 to date. By comparison, the All Blacks, long-range experts, have seven. They will concede tries though. The nine five-pointers they've been on the end of is nearly twice as many as the other semifinalists.
With a gameplan that could have been contained on a tab of LSD, they showed against Wales all their limitations and their strengths. They are without doubt the most straitjacketed side in the semifinals and arguably the weakest. They are also, I suspect, the team New Zealand would most like to have avoided. They're not going to change now, the loss to Japan almost meant they had to fall back on what they know best - strong-arm rugby with few frills. They will be hoping against hope they get Wayne Barnes and not Nigel Owens.
The Boks' 15 tries from first phase dwarfs any other team, but their 10 mid- to long-range efforts compare poorly to New Zealand's 24. This is the ultimate clash of styles.
BEST LOSERS
There's no benefit to anybody in piling more opprobrium on the ref other than to say Joubert's 11th-hour intervention was obviously calamitous. Instead let's remember Scotland for being the most pleasantly surprising team of the tournament, along with Japan. They're still limited by forwards with huge hearts but limited catch-and-pass skills, but there're kernels of inspiration there that can be expanded upon. Nobody scored more tries on 7+ phases than Scotland, so they have added continuity to a strong set-piece game. Kudos, Vern Cotter.
Pretty much interchangeable with Wales here. They were hamstrung by losing key players but when push came to flick-pass, they were out-skilled and outwitted by Argentina. Another promising, but underachieving, World Cup result.
They showed a bit of apple after losing so many first-choice backs, but after the thrill of the chase against England, they blew two winnable games against vulnerable opponents because they lacked imagination and a cutting thrust. In Dan Biggar they unearthed a cult hero.
Simply abysmal and sad proof that despite containing three Six Nations sides, Pool D ended up being a shower of something rhyming with kit. Merde, perhaps?
* All stats provided by Opta
