It's a moot point because if World Cup history is anything to go by, we are probably the worst losers of any rugby-playing nation.
I and many others involved in the John Hart-led 1999 All Black World Cup campaign remember this only too well, and even now, after all these years, the memories are stark and painful.
As Hart recalls, the shock loss to the French at Twickenham was bad enough but nothing could prepare him and the All Black team for the savagery of the backlash from New Zealand, 19,300km away.
It was way over the top for its bad-humoured ferocity and made the players, the coaching staff and all in the New Zealand camp who were trying to deal with the loss feel 100 times worse. Even over all that distance you could feel the collective New Zealand loathing and animosity.
It was a funeral atmosphere at the Cardiff hotel in the days after the London loss. I felt sorry for the beaten All Blacks; no young sportsmen representing their country should ever be made to feel this way and the hang-dog look of the players, coach and his assistants spoke volumes.
While the rest of the rugby world was celebrating what they saw as champagne rugby and one of the most brilliant comebacks in World Cup history, the vitriolic reaction back in New Zealand was a total and awful contrast - an outpouring of scorn that was just too embarrassing for words. We looked and sounded like a bunch of poor losers and it made the All Black camp and many Kiwi supporters in England and Wales cringe with embarrassment.
Let's all hope and pray that New Zealand rugby fans don't repeat that shameful 1999 episode if we again lose, against all expectations, at home this year.
Of course we will be bitterly disappointed but it will be a big test of our national character if we can accept defeat graciously and be good sports, especially when we are the hosts.
So this is a friendly reminder from someone who has been involved in past cup campaigns that win or lose, above all we should be on our best sporting and welcoming behaviour during our two months in the global sporting spotlight.
Another good reason to ensure we are as good hosts as we can be is that the success of the event will be defined more by the warmth of our welcome than by results on the field.
Friendliness and helpfulness are the two most treasured - and judged - qualities for travellers everywhere. They define the quality of the visitor experience wherever you go and leave a more lasting impression than any number of tastes, sights and scenery.
I had a vivid reminder of that just recently when touring European capitals with my two university-age daughters. It was their first trip to Europe and naturally they were hugely impressed with all they saw.
But by far their strongest impression was always of the spirit of warmth, friendliness and co-operation they encountered along the way while travelling, eating, sightseeing and staying.
Unfortunately they also had many bad impressions - whether surly French waiters, rude Czech train guards, unco-operative German hotel staff or precious, unhelpful Italian taxi drivers.
Of course there were many exceptions but it was interesting that the friendliness of the welcome was always the first and main impression with which they judged each country we visited.
And being young Kiwi girls who are both outward and naturally curious, and used to the friendliness of people at home, their surprise at the hostility they often received puzzled and at times upset them.
Coming from New Zealand, where we do pride ourselves on the warmth of our welcome, I guess their disappointment was understandable.
But it's again a friendly reminder that how New Zealanders behave as hosts - on and off the field - that will be the real measure of our national success in staging the World Cup.
If we do it well, it will add far more value to our international worth than the dollars that will be spent.
* Greg Shand is a former political editor of the Herald and was a communications adviser to the NZRU and John Hart's All Blacks in 1999.
