“Rugby in New Zealand is not a matter of life or death. It’s far more important than that.” Anonymous.
New Zealand is a country where rugby is not a sport but a religion. A national obsession in fact.
The oval balled game underpins the very social fabric of the place, providing a common thread that ties town to country, rich to poor, young to old and black to white.
The beloved All Blacks were once described by Wayne Smith – a former player and then coach of the team – as New Zealand’s “precious jewel”.
Birthright
Many New Zealanders, reared on a century of virtual global rugby domination by their “men in black”, consider it is their birthright to watch All Black teams sweep all before them.
And it’s not just folklore that the fortunes of the All Blacks can determine the rise and fall of Governments and the state of the economy in their homeland.
When the red hot favourites were unceremoniously dumped out of the 1999 Rugby World Cup semi final by a rampant French team the ruling National Party was defeated in a landslide by Labour in the general election later that month and the sharemarket suffered a temporary blip.
The politicians and stockbrokers were not the only ones to cop the flak that rained down from incensed rugby fans the length and breadth of the country.
Controversial coach John Hart was ritually vilified as public enemy number one.
The outcry reached its zenith at the New Zealand Trotting Cup that took place soon after the RWC.
Horse abuse
Hart part owned one of the favourites for the event at the Addington show grounds in the heart of Canterbury, one of New Zealand’s staunchest rugby provinces.
Cantabrians already had a deep seated rivalry with Hart, stemming from his days as coach of Auckland, their arch North Island enemy.
Hart wisely decided not to turn up to the event, so the locals decided to vent their spleen at his horse, Holmes DG.
The champion trotter was spat at and had drink cans thrown in its direction while being paraded in the birdcage.
Silver lining
At least the earlier then expected exit from the RWC solved an argument that was brewing between the city councils of New Zealand’s biggest city Auckland and the capital Wellington.
The two local bodies were fighting over who should host the ticker tape parade for the All Blacks when they return with the Webb Ellis Cup.
Anything other than victory in the RWC final is considered abject failure by the New Zealand fans. Not making the final akin to disaster.
New Zealanders have sat and watched their team “fail” at three successive RWCs.
The All Black win in the inaugural Tournament in 1987 seems an awfully long time ago.
So the expectation is literally reaching fever pitch in the land of the long white cloud for today’s semi final against Australia who have won twice as many RWCs as New Zealanders.
So how does the team cope?
God only knows but somehow captain Reuben Thorne looked relaxed at a Press Conference on Thursday.
He smiled a lot when answering the questions but his face took on a stonier appearance when asked about what an All Black win meant for the national psyche.
"New Zealand is a funny place. Some supporters come up and say 'good luck' but most will say 'don't let us down'.
"We do our best but the reality is we can't win them all. We prepare as well as we can and perform as well as we can and that's all we can do. But (a loss) does affect the mood of the country.”
Don’t worry Reuben, it really is just a game, just don't go home for a while if you lose it.