The All Blacks have quickly copped the wrath of the British media as they jumped on the Andrew Hore controversy.

Mick Collins in the Daily Mail said the All Blacks "showed both the merciless best and thuggish worst of their nature".

He said Hore's early removal of Welsh lock Bradley Davies was "a shocking, cowardly assault  ... a disgraceful short-arm smash thrown from behind".

Welsh great Jonathan Davies described it as "a cheap shot", a description echoed on the Sky Sports website.

Lions legend Jeremy Guscott, who was at Millennium Stadium with Davies for the BBC, predicted a large suspension for Hore.

"He will be banned for six or seven games. It will be a big ban because they were lenient on Adam Thomson who got away with one in the game against Scotland," Guscott said.

Former All Blacks great Zinzan Brooke, ensconsed in the rugby media scene in the UK, told the BBC:  "Andrew Hore was bang out of order there. It is unacceptable and there is no place in the game for that."

The Wales Online rugby writer John Doel said Davies' departure was "sinister following a shocking off-the-ball forearm smash from hooker Andrew Hore."

The tabloid Sun newspaper waded in, labelling Hore's strike a punch and "a sickening act of foul play".

- © Fairfax NZ News

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