New Zealand is not a place where you might mistake the message. When billboards preach the World Cup mantra at you from every street corner, when the in-flight safety video has All Blacks coach Graham Henry as the headline act and when the haka can break out on any street corner, you might well believe that this is a country fixated with rugby. And so it is but the mood has not always been one of sweet harmony.
When the World Cup was last staged in New Zealand, in 1987, rugby was not the unified entity it is now, on the eve of the seventh edition of the tournament.
In fact, rugby had split the country following a poisonous row over New Zealand's dealings with apartheid South Africa, with the All Blacks billeted around farming communities during the tournament in a bid to connect with their roots and heal those sores.
In 2011, the country is at one with its sporting heroes and, for the most part, with the event itself, even if there have been legitimate grumbles about the hike in prices for tickets and services — 1,000 tickets remain for the first night extravaganza in Auckland, with the All Blacks top-billing. As ever, it is the poor old punter who gets rear-ended at these global events. That apart, there is a tingle in the mild spring air as this morning's opening approaches. "It's time to have some fun," as World Cup chief executive Martin Snedden put it on Wednesday.
Holistic view
This is a national occasion, that's for sure, but you do hope that the gaze of four million Kiwis will not alight solely on the All Blacks. They say not. They pledge that they will be welcoming, that they will take a holistic view.
New Zealanders must embrace one and all. The country, self-evidently, is a long way off the beaten track, its geographical isolation a drawback for travelling fans as well as big-hitting broadcasters in faraway time zones. Even so, there was no need for the patronising tones back in 2005 of the IRB chief executive, Mike Miller, in telling New Zealanders how fortunate they were to have the tournament as it would not pass this way for many a year to come. That was hokum. New Zealand is the right place for the World Cup to be. It has soul. And that's all the more reason to trust that there will be fun and laughter across the 12 venues, as well as drama and agonies. The quest for glory does not just involve New Zealand, of course. There are a few others who will fancy their chances.
A football World Cup is much bigger, more cosmopolitan, more meritocratic and yet, like its rugby cousin, invariably comes down to the usual suspects. The All Blacks may well be clear favourites but their sleep will be disturbed by haunting thoughts of sundry South Africans, Aussies, English and French marauders come to spoil their coronation. Again. Might Wales and Ireland harbour ambitions? Well, they ought to but their track record at World Cups is poor. Wales travel "without fear", according to head coach Warren Gatland.
We get an immediate chance to test the truth of that bullish proclamation. Wales against South Africa is the pick of the weekend's fixtures although England against Argentina will hold interest, if only to see if the Pumas can replicate their stunning opening night gambit of 2007 when they toppled hosts France.
Springboks easy to write off
England look set to win that one, and even comfortably so. It has been easy to write off the prospects of defending champions South Africa, for they have laboured in the Tri-Nations. And yet, an 18-5 victory in Port Elizabeth against an admittedly second-string All Black side recently, allied to the raucous send-off from 60,000 in Johannesburg, gives cause to remind you that South Africa can match New Zealand all the way in the zealot stakes. True, coach Peter de Villiers is seen as a clown in most quarters, yet in reuniting 18 of the 30 who won the Webb Ellis Cup in 2007, he at least recognises the merit of experience in World Cups.
"In 2007 we hoped we'd do well but this time the country really needs us to do well," said World Cup-winning captain John Smit. "That expectation doesn't cage us: it empowers us."
The other southern superpower, Australia, have found form at just the right moment. Their 25-20 victory over New Zealand in Brisbane was no fluke. It was the reward for hard-nosed, feisty graft up front with a touch of devil and opportunism behind.
It is so hard to go against New Zealand, but that is what we must do. England to reach the semi-finals but Australia to win the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
