Herald on Sunday editorial: Here's to the best, whatever happens

Novak Djokovic, of Serbia. Photo / AP

Opinion

Coming out of the locker room for his US Open tennis semifinal last week, Novak Djokovic was asked about the stunning loss the crowd had just witnessed, of fellow champion Serena Williams.

"Well," said Djokovich, "it's sport. Anything can happen."

More to the point, it was a tournament of sudden death. Tennis crowds are well-accustomed to that format. They have not ceased to regard Williams as the best in the world because she lost that day on the cusp of a rare achievement, a true grand slam: all four majors in the same year.

Rugby followers are not as accustomed to sudden-death sport. They tend to regard the game's quadrennial World Cup as the only test that matters. At least we in New Zealand do. Elsewhere those who know the game do not cease to regard the All Blacks as the world's best if they suffer a surprise loss.

But of course, they will not. We expect the All Blacks to win every match. The only losses we can bear are those like the one to Australia this year that deprived us of the four nations' Rugby Championship this season. The All Blacks usually win that but in World Cup year we do not care about the championship. It is almost a good omen, a sacrifice to the gods for the glory in store.

The next six weeks are so important to the reputation of this great team that we should pause now, a day before their first match, to acknowledge what Steve Hansen's All Blacks have already achieved. Sir Graham Henry considered them a better team even than his 2011 World Cup-winning side. No wonder. Hansen has built on Henry's legacy, playing an expansive style but at greater pace, thanks mainly to the speed at which Aaron Smith plays and the length of his pass.

The halfback is just one of several players introduced since the last World Cup. At that time, few knew the names Brodie Rettalick, Beauden Barrett or Julian Savea. It is players of their recent vintage who may be the stars of this World Cup, rather than the veterans of the last.

If All Black fans have a worry about this team it is that too much might depend on players who reached their peak four or more years ago. Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Conrad Smith, most of the Canterbury forwards, how cruel it would be if we discover the selectors should have been more daring.

But of course we will not. Hansen will use the pool phase to drill his starting XV and give the rest opportunities to press for selection. The knock-out rounds are weeks away but four years of work start to come to fruition tomorrow. Of course they can do it. We can't wait. Good luck boys.