Although their 8-7 victory over France was no classic, that will hardly matter to the rugby-mad Kiwis. They won the first ever Rugby World Cup in 1987, but have failed to live up to their promise in every tournament since.

Home advantage spurred New Zealand on, and the game started in a fiery way when the French players formed an arrowhead and advanced towards the All Blacks as they performed the haka.

The unexpected heroes of the match for New Zealand were Tony Woodcock and Stephen Donald. The prop Woodcock opened the scoring with an early try after a clever lineout, while Donald kicked the penalty that kept France out of reach. Donald is only the All Blacks’ fourth-choice fly-half, but injuries to Dan Carter, Colin Slade and Aaron Cruden forced coach Graham Henry to call Donald up as a replacement. Until two weeks ago, Donald had been on a fishing holiday, drinking beer and not even thinking about rugby.

“Everyone around New Zealand has given this team so much over the past six weeks,” said All Blacks captain Richie McCaw, “and now we’ve repaid them.”