KEY POINTS:
Trust the faint-hearted and faintly ridiculous in this rugby land to turn the All Blacks 2008 campaign into something that it wasn't and obliterate the disasters of 2007 in the process.
Hold firm, you frantic lot, and don't let the standards drop.
No sooner had the All Blacks dispensed with the sinking rose of England, and in some cases even before they had taken on Borthwick's Bumblers, than redemption was being bestowed upon Graham Henry with scant regard for the facts of the World Cup shambles.
If climbing the world's highest peak had been as easy as winning the Hillary Shield, then Sir Edmund would have needed no more than a picnic lunch and a pair of sturdy sandshoes to haul himself into history.
Half a century later, his name has been sadly and posthumously applied to a Twickenham contest that was a penalty-infested bore for an hour until England could no longer keep up the pretence of being a decent test rugby nation any more.
England's nadir came in the aftermath of Nick Easter's early second-half break, Mils Muliaina having tripped up the immediate try-scoring threat with a wonderful ankle tap.
What followed was such a ponderous attempt at breaching the All Blacks line that young mountain climbers around the world could have learned a thing or two about setting up base camps while the rest of us wandered off to the kitchen in search of a cup of tea.
Not that it made any difference, because an All Black victory was always assured.
Grand Slam completed, and oh what joy, especially as these four sad opponents could not even muster one try between them against an invading army that would be even stronger but for the absence of troops who regularly depart for adventure in Europe.
Mission completed, you could rely on the desperate rugby soothsayers to make a glorious mountain out of a series of molehills. Redemption? Don't make us laugh.
It has been a largely excellent season for Henry, of that there is no doubt, but let's not get carried away by what is standard fare in rugby history nor let it rewrite what should be indelibly marked in any sensible mind.
The high point was the Tri Nations triumph, but let's be realistic here because it was against an Australian side that doesn't have the necessary spread of quality players yet, and a South African squad under the command of an excitable novice and with a backdrop of familiar infighting.
The most significant achievement by far during this series was Australia's ability, under Robbie Deans, to pull back from the brink of a disaster that was facing the sport across the Tasman.
He would have been my coach of the year, by a long chalk.
There were some outstanding All Black results within this year's Tri Nations campaign, and also decidedly dodgy ones. For all the Grand Slam hoopla, anyone who watched the match against a severely depleted Munster would also know that not everything is rosy in the garden.
Forget the World Cup and move on is often the cry, but it is worth arguing hard against that convenient cry when things don't go to plan. World Cups are supposed to be never-to-be-forgotten landmarks, the stuff of fascination, history, both good and bad, to be pored over.
Tell England to forget its 1966 soccer triumph, or New Zealand to rub out the inaugural 1987 rugby tournament, or Australia to suddenly forget that it beats our rugby trophies two to one. And tell New Zealand league diehards to forget about the 2008 World Cup sensation as soon as the calendar page flips over to the New Year.
And should we also dismiss the dramatic 1995 rugby final defeat, or the weird thinking involved in the 1991 campaign.
The 2007 All Black World Cup project remains and will always remain a colossal disaster, a master class in false thinking unless the deal was to promote Corsica as a lovely place to top off a restful year. The foolhardy planners should have been given the axe in favour of the remarkable Deans, and nothing will ever change that.
It's difficult to fathom how any reasonable sporting soul without a pre-determined agenda would offer Henry - a highly experienced provincial and international coach who was allowed to turn the game upside down in his quest for the cup - the latitude of calling a World Cup year a learning experience after four years of meticulous planning.
This column was the first to suggest that failing to win the World Cup should not mean the automatic removal of Henry, a call made long before his minions latched on to various get-out-of-jail clauses after the failure. But judgments still needed to be made and once the farcical rotation and resting programme which destroyed a powerful All Black side was revealed, the Cardiff mess should have seen Henry sent on his way.
So to those dispensers of redemption, carry on your merry way while pulling the blinds on the truth of 2007, the poor quality of world rugby and a history of Henry-coached teams that fade at crucial times after fast starts.
It's not hard to create a list of indictments against our test cricket side but chief among the crimes is the posting of our finest batsman, Brendon McCullum, at number seven.
New Zealand's test batting lineups have hardly ever followed the more traditional course whereby the best are placed at the top and the bumblers further down.
And years of harsh experience have taught many of our bowlers that they'd better school up quick in the art of scoring runs, otherwise they won't have any decent targets to bowl to.
Rearguard actions have been the lifeblood of our white-clothed heroes, and none more so than at the moment where McCullum's only challenger as our best test batter comes from the man who follows him in, the brave captain Daniel Vettori.
The time has come for McCullum to face the blowtorch, and be told to prepare for life as a dedicated test batter for no other reason than there is plenty to gain, and almost nothing to lose, by the move.
The stranding of McCullum during yet another dismal batting display at Adelaide has to bring the selectors to their senses.
New Zealand owes its fans, not to mention the cricket world, so much more than what we saw in the two dreadful test defeats against a shaky Aussie side. We'll be lucky to get an invitation back.
And this country simply isn't strong enough to continue with our one world class willow wielder hiding behind the wicketkeeping gloves any more.
The rigours of wicketkeeping almost always dim the batting ability of genuine allrounders, and it is a situation that should no longer be tolerated.
The crime is even greater when you consider that two of the men following McCullum are Iain O'Brien and Chris Martin, who are not so much a tail end but a tale of woe when it comes to batting. In other words, by the time the rare genius of McCullum gets to the wicket, there are only two more batters to follow.
There are hardened glovemen around New Zealand who would surely do a quality job behind the stumps and probably provide more runs to match those of the overrated Ross Taylor and the plodding talents of Aaron Redmond, Peter Fulton and co into the bargain. Planting McCullum at number seven is an absolute waste.
From the forgotten heroes department ... they should strike a special medal for the injured and absent Kiwi league captain Roy Asotasi, who led the move to have Gary Kemble replaced as the Kiwi coach. So where now are the luminaries that were among Asotasi's numerous critics, the World Cup having been ripped from snivelling Ricky Stuart's grasp by Steve Kearney's fabulous team.
Asotasi - backed by David Kidwell - saved the day for Kiwi rugby league by speaking out when he needed to. He wasn't being malicious or disrespectful, but simply demanded the quality of coaching that players of his ilk deserve.
Please explain ... all power to the Wellington Phoenix, who are putting up a decent show in the A-league. After a horror start (which I for one thought was the beginning of the end for coach Ricki Herbert) they are giving the competition a decent shake. Well done lads, and long may it continue.
But pray, tell us how the club let striker Shane Smeltz go next season. He is the nearest thing to a home-grown household name, a rare beast among New Zealand footballers because he can actually find the net. What price loyalty, you have to ask? How on earth did the Phoenix let him go, and why did he want to leave? It remains a black cloud over the silver linings of the past month.
