There are variations in style at the top table, from South Africa's bomb squad to Ireland's perfectly plotted steps and the more organic approach of the French. If only Australia could rediscover some former glory, because the game was all the better for the craft of those great old Wallaby sides. Some old Welsh magic wouldn't go amiss either.
But the satisfaction goes beyond what's happening on the international stage, as the aloof New Zealand Rugby board is left with egg on its face.
The game has been propped up by that All Black supremacy, and a state school system which has been turned over to the national sport thanks to a new business mentality in education and some healthy headmaster egos.
Elsewhere rugby has withered in this country, despite all the advantages it holds, with interest at an unbelievable low at provincial and Super Rugby level.
But NZR has been exposed this time.
Rather than see the All Blacks' 2019 World Cup crash for what it was, that of a coaching regime which had lost its way, NZR turned inwards as it always has done, ignoring any popular wish and sticking with its mates.
It was almost as if they felt so superior that the incredible semifinal mauling at the hands of England didn't actually happen, that to break with the Steve Hansen regime would be an unfair insult to the great but overbearing coach.
That's how Ian Foster - Hansen's assistant - became head All Blacks coach.
That poor decision was the product of a sport which ignores its audience and appears out of touch with the people and the trends of the game. It is an empire which has gone soft.
And it is coming back to haunt them big time. Tactics and motivation are being exposed. Foster is being completely out-coached, and his team out-muscled.
NZR has been well and truly embarrassed on the world stage by the Foster appointment. He is making a mess of it. And it is hardly a surprise.
It was a very long time since Ian Foster had been a head coach, and he wasn't all that successful way back then.
Those who had done the tough head coach yards in the current era - particularly the people's favourite Scott Robertson, Dave Rennie and Jamie Joseph - were left on the sidelines.
All deserved the job over Foster, and all would be doing a better job than him. I have absolutely no doubt about that.
What really stands out over the past two weeks is that almost all of the really classy rugby has been played by Ireland and France.
For a moment, I thought the French were about to provide a challenge to the greatest try of all - the Barbarians' 1973 classic against the All Blacks - when Romain Ntamack launched a stunning counter attack after scrambling behind his goal line.
It was, deservedly, the pivotal moment in the game which stymied the All Blacks' comeback and left them a man down.
It should be the sort of rugby the All Backs are capable of. But they are not.
Instead, their inner confidence looks shot, to the point they are continually kicking the ball away.
Foster may turn things around. Wearing my All Black supporter's hat, which occasionally gets put down, I hope he does. But that NZR decision to appoint him is already clearly wrong.
It's tempting to say the French have done NZR a favour, opening the way for a shock review of that appointment two years out from the World Cup. But what are the chances of that?
