KEY POINTS:
When Britain's ITV channel turned to former midfield back Will Greenwood for comment some time after England's unexpected quarter-final victory, he said with brutal, inquisitive honesty: "Where did that come from?"
That same curiosity will have played over and over in the minds of the All Blacks as
they retrace their steps from an optimistic World Cup departure in late August to their arrival home today.
The All Blacks were hit by a French fury in Cardiff from which they were unable to untangle themselves; a passion which neutralised their skills and attacking intent before the Tricolores delivered the killer blow.
For Cardiff, read Marseille, where a limited England side of bulldog spirit, a bludgeoning scrum and counter-rucking fury saw off an Australia side with much greater potency.
Both quarter-final upsets showed how all the planning, skills and athleticism of the transtasman neighbours was powerless without the raw, unswerving, mental discipline needed in tight matches.
The Wallaby composure cracked; the All Blacks lost their attacking conviction against the tenacious French defence and tried to win the sudden-death test through the pick'n' go from their forwards.
It was an intriguing change of tactic after the prediction from Springbok coach Jake White that percentage, low-risk rugby rather than razzle-dazzle adventure was the best method of approaching the World Cup.
It was close, a 20-18 defeat, which involved a number of inadequate rulings from referee Wayne Barnes and his touch judges. But, for all their possession - 72 per cent - the All Blacks should have danced out to play England this weekend.
Instead, the tournament favourites packed up prematurely and jetted for home as a number of inquiries started into the campaign failure.
There have to be coaching implications for the earliest All Blacks exit in World Cup history. Graham Henry may be trying to persuade the NZRU they should persevere with an understood but unstated succession plan to push Steve Hansen into the top coaching job.
A truly independent inquiry into the meltdown should dispense with that concept and recommend a new coaching/selection panel. A post-mortem should also sheet home some blame at the same senior NZRU officials who have overseen the last two World Cup failures.
They should wonder whether the NZRU was protecting their season-long World Cup obsession and the Super 14 and national championship fallout by appointing Steve Tew to succeed Chris Moller as chief executive without putting the position out to tender.
The administrators did not play at Cardiff, nor did the coaches - but they were complicit in accepting the team's direction and strategies.
Conditioning the squad made sense after the excesses of recent seasons. But to then not give them regular matchplay, to maintain their CottonWool Club status, seemed counter-productive.
There was also the perplexing leg injuries a range of players suffered, opening the line of thought they were too finely honed as athletes instead of absorbing the traditional thumpings of a contact sport.
Richie McCaw started six of the mid-year tests and came on in the seventh, had a two-month break from matches and was then subbed in both starts against Italy and Scotland before his full quarter-final.
Others like Carl Hayman, Byron Kelleher and Joe Rokocoko also looked short of game time, especially with the lack of intensity offered by the All Blacks' weak pool opponents.
But the basics were absent, too. Handling errors which blighted early pool matches kept recurring, fundamental rugby decisions were ignored.
For the third successive World Cup, the All Blacks played a fullback at centre, where they lost the vision and counter-thrust from Mils Muliaina at fullback. But the selectors had never made a convincing choice at centre to replace the retired Tana Umaga.
Five-eighths Daniel Carter did not look fit for the quarter-final. He was more content to kick or distribute, stayed in the pocket, and the side's two most attacking wings never got any decent attacking possession.
Meanwhile Nick Evans, who had an impressive tournament, was ignored for a start.
The outcome of the inquiries, both internal and independent, into the administrative direction of the All Blacks, their strategies and on-field performance will be fascinating - if they are made public.
