It doesn't seem to matter much any more if Australia assert their supremacy yet again by beating the Springboks and snatching the Tri-Nations trophy from the All Blacks at the death knock.
There is already a profound sense of under-achievement surrounding the New Zealand team of 2000 that won't be greatly affected by the outcome tomorrow.
In the minds of many New Zealanders, and including some in the media, who appear to be incapable of ever being satisfied, the team have stumbled once again.
But how justified is all this disappointment?
For all but a few minutes of this international season, the All Blacks have looked composed, organised and at times breathtakingly inventive.
Tonga were reminded mercilessly that they don't belong in the big league. Scotland, not a bad side really, were made to look pedestrian.
The two matches against Australia had some of the best rugby ever played and most of the credit for that belongs to the All Blacks.
The Springboks were soundly beaten in Christchurch in a match that may not have been a panoply of dramatic moments but which was a severe test of the New Zealand players' concentration and one which they weathered with great character.
It was really only the match at Ellis Park that saw a return of that fatal hesitation and the perilously porous defence that caused so many red faces in the previous two seasons.
It is as if the All Blacks go into panic mode whenever an opposing team run at them.
The spectacle of a Springbok backline of no great pretensions sailing through a New Zealand defence like mosquitoes through a wire netting fence will be the abiding memory of the season no matter how hard we might try to block it out.
The report card on this squad shows some very promising signs and some disquieting ones.
The most annoying features have been a want of lineout accuracy and sloppy close-in tackling by both backs and forwards when the opposition are on a roll.
The positives far outweigh these, however.
A relatively young forward pack have coped well against the best, and the greenhorns, Ron Cribb and Troy Flavell, have made the transition upwards to join Norm Maxwell as the great hopes for 2003. They now have a better idea of how much more exacting test matches are compared to Super 12.
The Otago front row have been jolted out of what looked like a creeping complacency.
Taine Randell has been quite superb, having missed only a single tackle throughout the entire campaign and he is there to stay at No 6. Josh Kronfeld, if not quite the genius of earlier years, was there when it counted and Todd Blackadder assumed his new responsibilities with all the commitment in the world, if not reaching great heights in the lineout.
Justin Marshall has sharpened up his game immeasurably and those outside him have looked better as a result.
Andrew Mehrtens remains an enigma. When his defence is sound the team invariably win. It wasn't last weekend, and they lost, and this factor remains as a seemingly permanent point of weakness.
Alama Ieremia and Pita Alatini have become a settled combination and the megastars outside them provided a regular fireworks display on a more regular supply of ball.
On balance, this team have succeeded in consolidating New Zealand's position back at top equal in the world.
Some unfinished business in France awaits them and there will be no shortage of motivation to bury the awful ghost of 1999 and to end the year with a real sizzler.
All Blacks test programme 2000
Rugby: Blunders overshadow brilliance of the All Blacks
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.