Kerre Woodham: Thanks for the Rugby World Cup that cheered

The Rugby World Cup party is almost over. Photo / Richard Robinson

So after tonight, the party's over.

This time tomorrow, whether the All Blacks have won or lost, and let's all pray to the rugby gods that it's a win, it will be time to take the flags off the cars, the signs off the windows and the bunting off the shops.

The plastic waka and The Cloud (unless they keep it, as the Herald on Sunday tipped last week) will be just a memory by Christmas. But, hopefully, the spirit of fun and optimism and goodwill will remain.

Haven't the past six weeks just been fabulous? Even dyed-in-the-wool, anti-rugby people started coming round by the end of this Rugby World Cup.

People like my fellow columnist Wendyl Nissen. One sighting in the wild of the Argentinian rugby team at Wellington Airport and there was a chink in her armour. Then, when she discovered the gracious, articulate captain of the Argentinian team was a doctor, she was hooked - and stayed watching even after her doctor went home.

Just as so many Kiwis did who previously wouldn't have known a ruck if they'd been at the bottom of one.

So take a bow New Zealand. From the boss of RWC 2011, Martin Snedden, and his chief operating officer, Therese Walsh, to the civic leaders and businesspeople who got behind this event, making their cities and towns RWC ready.

Thank you to the thousands of volunteers who were helpful and polite and smiley and the best advertisement for this country ever. And here's to the rest of you - the hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders who adopted a team and dressed up and sang and cheered and clapped and commiserated and who welcomed the world to the stadium of four million.

It was a catchy phrase, stadium of four million. And listening to the naysayers before kick-off, I wondered whether we'd oversold ourselves. But I should have never doubted. The organisation and planning of this event was world class and the response from New Zealanders terrific.

We were hospitable, generous and memorable for all the right reasons. Whatever the result tonight, we are all winners because of the success of this tournament.