KEY POINTS:
It has been a weekend of monumental shocks.
The Warriors won, the Wallabies didn't get belted, the Wallabies led at halftime, Canada sort of made a game of it against the All Blacks, the Springboks won through drop kicks (ha ha) ...
The biggest shock of all, though, was the presentation ceremony after the All Blacks beat Canada in Hamilton.
The first big surprise about this was that there was a presentation ceremony at all. But hey, did you see the size of the Trakker Cups. And yes, that's cups, as in the plural.
The All Blacks got one for coming first, and presumably Canada got one for coming second, or maybe not.
Because it nearly brought a tear to the eye, witnessing this remarkable bonding of bitter foes, this dogged refusal to believe that rugby is all about winning, and the feeling once again that sport lifts the human spirit to an altogether higher place.
In other words, who said that sport is all about commercialism. You fools.
The great history of rugby between these two mighty nations was there for all to see, as Reuben Thorne lifted the trophy skyward, and Morgan Williams was able to do the same.
Somewhere in the distance, you could hear the double Trakker chant going up at Waikato Stadium.
It was a fitting end to a titanic battle.
There were stages early in the match in which you actually feared that the Trakker Cup might be lost, the bigger Trakker Cup that is.
Inconceivable, yet the All Blacks didn't lead by much for much of the first half. Would the ill-fated former All Black captain Thorne forever be remembered as the man who not only failed to lift the 2003 World Cup, but also received the little Trakker.
These were the questions which began to race nervously around the mind as Canada refused to play dead before the might of the All Blacks. The big Trakker, or maybe the thought of lifting the little Trakker, certainly brought out the best in the Canadians.
Rumour has it that Graham Henry grabbed the trophy, the big Trakker, as he walked towards the changing rooms at halftime. He then planted it in the middle of the floor and demanded to know if there was a player in the room not prepared to spill blood in the name of winning the maxi Trakker. The mood is said to have been electric.
Thankfully, a disaster was averted. Could this country have coped, you had to ask, if the little Trakker Cup had been left for a display cabinet in Wellington, like the mark of Cain.
In the end though, the All Blacks found something approaching second gear, and this will always be remembered as the game in which Dan Carter asserted his authority to make the big Trakker safe.
And the name honoured by these cups? Bob Trakker was one of Canada's greats, a man who put rugby on the map there, a fearless wing.
Actually, a Trakker is a truck.
Saturday night's victory concluded a remarkable eight days for the All Blacks, who also lifted the Dave Gallaher and Stralis Trophies after their stirring wins over the brilliant French in a two-test nailbiter.
Stralis de Rouchefort-Chocolate was of course one of the giants of French rugby ...
Actually, the Stralis is a truck.
So, these are halcyon days for the All Blacks, and soon they will need a truck to carry all these trophies around. The question will then be: Do they go with a Trakker or a Stralis?
It's too close to call for now although, contrary to widespread predictions, the brave manner of unheralded Canada's defeat has probably elevated the Trakker above the Stralis, which could prove decisive when the NZRU puts its order in.
Moving forward, as Chris Moller might say. There is no end to this nerve-racking quest for silverware.
As every rugby lover knows, the Freedom Cup will not be up for grabs this year when the All Backs meet South Africa. This has, admittedly, taken some of the gloss off the contest.
But the All Blacks do have the Bledisloe Cup, the Tri-Nations Trophy and the World Cup to chase this season, which should make up for the disappointment.
And before you ask - no, the Freedom is not a truck.
* A nod here to the former Springbok flyhalf Joel Stransky for his superb television rugby commentary work. Once again, he was outstanding during the battle between the Springboks and Wallabies in Cape Town. Clear, concise, interesting and impartial in the incidents which make up a match, all without any feigned over-excitement.
Stransky is setting the standards in rugby commentary. It's not the easiest job in the world, sports calling, and those of us who don't do it are probably over-harsh in our criticisms.
There are plenty of good ones around. Stransky, though, is an absolute natural, or at least he sounds that way. He makes it sound easy, and is easy to listen to.
High
The Warriors snap a dreadful losing streak.
Low
The rugby test in Cape Town. An old fashioned stoush with a dramatic and unusual finish.
