Mrs West, who works in human resources at BNZ, was at Millennium Stadium in 2007 when the All Blacks lost to France in the quarter-final. "It was just a nightmare ... I've never had a more hideous night in my life."
It was only the second day of her three-week cup adventure that year. She had tickets to the semis and final.
"I'm still dealing with the counselling issues about losing," Mrs West said with a laugh. "I could not stomach going to the quarters [this time], I would have just died."
So after watching two pool games in Newcastle - All Blacks v Tonga and Samoa v Scotland - she flew back home to Auckland.
With the infamous 2007 quarter-final "still ringing in [her] mind", she settled down to watch the game at home in St Heliers last Sunday morning. By herself.
"All of my mates had gigs on - I've got a friend who's getting a grandstand in - and I just went, 'This is so critical, I can only watch it by myself.' Which is highly tragic. I felt like vomiting the entire weekend I was so nervous."
Instead, the All Blacks' high-scoring victory has inspired her to fly back to England for both semifinals, the final and bronze-final.
As soon as she floated the idea, Mrs West said, her husband Ian and son Conor said, "Why wouldn't you?" Not that she needed convincing.
"Everything lined up. I thought, right, if one thing doesn't line up - from being able to pay for the damn thing, to getting leave - I'm not going and I swear to God, between about 9am and 11am [on Tuesday] it was done and dusted."
She left the next night on the All Blacks Tours chartered flight hosted by Stephen "Beaver" Donald.
"It's going to be seriously nuts. It's very exciting," she said before boarding.
"I think the key thing is trying to get on TV, obviously, just to prove that I have buggered off from work and am actually at the semis."
One of 11 kids, Mrs West got her love of rugby from her Samoan father, who used to wake her and her siblings up to watch the All Blacks in the early hours of the morning.
"It's in my DNA," she said.
She is looking forward to meeting new people and making more rugby-mad friends, like she did in 2007.
"Seriously, in Newcastle two Saturdays ago, from bus drivers to taxi drivers to restaurants and cafes, every single person was talking rugby. I was in heaven.
"It's pretty special, you know. I don't know if there's a lot of sports that do that. There is something quite crazy about the camaraderie in rugby. People want to talk, people want to chat, people want to debate. It's cool."
As for tomorrow's game against the Springboks, Mrs West said she is not necessarily feeling confident, but rather "quietly comfortable".
Total commitment
Tuesday, October 13: Arrives back in New Zealand after watching two Rugby World Cup pool games in Newcastle.
Tuesday, October 20: After the All Blacks walloped France in Cardiff, Mrs West excitedly booked flights back to England.
Wednesday, October 21: Flew out of Auckland for London. Intends to see both semis, the bronze-final and final.
Richie chucks in the flag for good measure
This time last week, Richie the Macaw was just a parrot on a perch in West Auckland. Now, after predicting three of four Rugby World Cup quarter-final results, he is something of a celebrity.
But ask him about his growing fame and he'll stubbornly tell you it should have been four from four.
Nevertheless, the Bird Barn Pet Store was inundated this week with visits from superstitious rugby fans wanting to meet the Herald's remarkable parrot pundit. "They come in to find him," said Alan Jones from the family-owned pet shop in Henderson. "Because he's pretty special, there's not that many of them in New Zealand."
Green-winged macaws, that is. Psychic green-winged macaws are just about unheard of.
It would be easy for all this attention to go straight to a young bird's head, but the 2-year-old has had his beady eyes fixed firmly on the job. First up was the All Blacks against arch-rivals South Africa.
Placed in the middle of his perch, with the two flag-attached bowls either side of him, Richie made a beeline towards the Springboks. But then the flamboyant seed-reader stopped still.
Hovering to his left, teasing the crowd, he made his move, but in the opposite direction.
After a pause and some chewing, the fortune-teller ended the game in convincing style. He ate from the New Zealand bowl not once but three times, adding a peck at the flag for good measure. The All Blacks advance to the final.
Next up was Australia and Argentina, and again the parrot performer played with his audience.
He moved towards the Wallabies straight away, but again fell short of finishing the game. As the seconds ticked by, Richie stayed put. He puffed out his feathers, pecked at his wing and ended the game by eating from the Australian bowl.
