It goes without saying that Rugby is massive in New Zealand. 5000 people attended the All Blacks last training session before they departed to France or the Rugby World Cup and a further 2000 people turn-up at the airport for their departure with the Air New Zealand ground crew doing the haka before they took-off on an Air New Zealand aeroplane with a specially commissioned black paint job. 

They are desperate to win having not lifted the cup since the inaugural event (held in New Zealand and Australia) in 1987. The countdown clock in Auckland has been ticking down the days to the start of the Rugby World Cup for a month.

As if there is not enough rugby on standard TV channels I subscribe to Sky’s Rugby Channel where rugby is on 24 x 7 including the European Rugby Championship and the Six Nations tournament. What is less well known perhaps is the arrogance of the NZ media and, dare I say it, some of the supporters.

On one programme I listen in disbelief as the pundits describe Wales’ build-up to the World Cup as inept and denounce the Welsh team as ‘village idiots’. The pundits consider the UK teams as presenting ‘no threat whatsoever to the All Blacks’. This relentless media haughtiness explains why I arrived in New Zealand in awe of the All Blacks and six  months later find myself, while still full of admiration of their sublime rugby skills, desperate to see someone (anyone) beat them and ‘shove it up’ the media’s collective arses.

The count down clock gets to zero and, overnight is reset to count down to the Final itself. Expectations are clear.

The ABs progress efficiently through the pool stage and play the French in a quarter final at the Millennium Stadium. New Zealanders have a slightly different twist on the cliché that France have two teams and you never know which one will turn-up; it doesn’t matter which one turns up because they are both rubbish

The countdown clock hits ’13 days to the final’ and at 8.00am New Zealand time we sit down to to watch the mighty All Blacks against France. 72% possession, 64% territory 140 French tackles v 40 New Zealand tackles fly in the face of the actual results. New Zealand 18 – France 20. Radio phone-in shows are inundated with irate callers. News Talk ZB talk back host Murray Deaker has his work cut out. 13 is unlucky for some.

It will be interesting to spectate on the repercussions of this loss. A loss which represents the worst result in World Cup history for New Zealand (they have never lost at quarter final stage) and one which means New Zealand will go at least 34 years without having won the World Cup despite being, on average, the best side for the last 30 years.

There are already calls for Henry and his backroom staff along with Richie McCall to resign. And it will not get any easier as the World Cup has two more weeks to run and the countdown clock will tick over and continue to rub salt into a very open wound.

I’ve never had cause to use the word schadenfreude before so here we go, I am overcome with an immense sense of schadenfreude.