KEY POINTS:
What happened? Or more to the point, how did it happen? We have a world class team, we were the World Cup favourites, just how did this happen? How could this happen in the quarter-finals, and against the French? This is worse than 1999, just what did happen?
The day after, and this is what I, and no doubt millions of other Kiwis are asking.
There are a few things that we can consider truths - our players are truly world-class, our coaches are second-to-none, we did have the stronger team going into the game and we were the hot favourites.
But we were also the team with the most to lose - we are the team carrying the baggage from our previous World Cup games - our semifinal knock-out to the Wallabies in Dublin in 1991, our upsetting loss against the Saffers in the final in Johannesburg in 1995, our devastating downfall in London against the French in 1999, our stunned loss in Sydney in 2003 against the Aussies.
But more to the point, we are the nation carrying the baggage of our losses. We have the unenviable title of being the best performing rugby nation with the inability to recapture the World Cup, of being labelled as "chokers", and with 20 years since we won the first ever World Cup, this has become part of our national psyche.
To hammer this point home, as we head into 2011, some of our then All Blacks will have never known a New Zealand World Cup win in their lifetime, and yet they will know themselves as the world's best. How is it that we have earned this label, and most importantly, how do we ensure that this never, never happens again?
It is always easier to win rather than defend - this goes with anything, whether it be making money, growing your business or playing rugby.
Had the French been two points behind the All Blacks in the last ten minutes of the game, there would have been excitement in the French crowd, the sense of a victory only a penalty away, a real sense of hope.
When it is the other way around, as it was, the All Black supporters, both at the game, in New Zealand and everywhere else around the world, were deadly silent, heart in their mouths, fear in their stomachs. It is always easier to win from behind than defend a reputation.
I see this loss, as being a New Zealand loss, rather than an All Black loss. Despite their talent, the All Blacks always had an uphill battle.
As world favourites they had everything to lose, and we as a nation had everything to lose. Our focus as a nation, whether we admit it or not, was on ensuring that we put the wrongs of the past right to finally win the World Cup this time. Our focus as a nation was on ensuring that there were no repeats of our previous World Cup performances. Our focus was on ensuring that we didn't lose again. Our focus was on "not losing", not on winning.
With this focus, and being carried by a whole nation, it was difficult if not impossible for the All Blacks to win. That is not to say that the All Blacks cracked under the pressure of a nation - they didn't, they played solid rugby to the end.
Perhaps we could say that they lacked the flair and imagination that often characterises them, and characterised the French on Sunday. But we can't fault them. However we want to analyse their performance on the field, what it really comes down to is that they had an uphill battle with the nation focussing on avoiding another loss.
For whether we like it or not, whatever we focus on, happens. If we focus on not losing money, we lose it. If we focus on not losing our job or our business, we lose it. And if we focus on not losing the rugby, we lose it. And with a whole nation focussing on not losing, there is no way that another outcome can occur except to lose.
There is no fault of the players, no fault of the coaches, but rather if we are to lay blame, the fault of the nation. Then, if we are to ensure that this really never happens again, it is the responsibility of a nation to put it right.
We, as a nation, need an overhaul. Although the wounds of our loss are raw, we, New Zealand, must take responsibility for our World Cup loss. We must accept what has happened, we must ensure that we let go of our baggage from all our previous World Cup performances, we must get to the point where this and all other World Cups are put firmly into the past and we must forgive our players and forgive ourselves.
We must get to the point where there is no emotional charge, where we can say and truly mean "so what, that's just what happened" when people refer to this and previous World Cups. Only then can we create ourselves anew, only then can we be fully confident that we will win, only then will we instil in our team the passion, support and fervour to win.
I'm not there yet, but I am clear that that is where we and our country need to be in 2011.
Emily Rudkin is a New Zealander living in Glasgow
