Avert your eyes All Black fans because sacrilege follows in what we are about to say. A loss to arch rivals South Africa tonight could work in New Zealand's favour.
The Springboks are always a threat but in a tournament of few genuine contenders, it makes things easier ifyou can avoid the toughest opponents until the final. Ironically, the team that finishes second in Pool B, the All Blacks' pool, may have a less arduous path to the final.
Patrick McKendry, the Herald's chief rugby writer, yesterday wrote that he believes there are just three true contenders in Japan right now: England, South Africa and the All Blacks. If expectations - and indeed, the seedings - play to form, the winner of tonight's match will meet England in the semifinal.
The loser would have the less daunting task, so long as they brush past a likely match-up with a suddenly out-of-form Ireland in the quarter-final.
These crystal-ball projections have a habit of dispersing in pundit's faces – in 2015 many expected an All Blacks-England final but the hosts failed to make it beyond pool play – but the point remains that nothing is decided in the first week of six.
Success in the past two tournaments has eased the collective nerves that grips this nation for two months every four years, but there will undoubtedly be a degree of anxious energy in bars and living rooms throughout the country tonight.
Take some comfort in the knowledge the wrong result is not the end of the World (Cup).
