Consistent winners suffer a loss with grace... because they are proud.
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Can you imagine anything worse at the World Cup than the All Blacks dipping out again? I can.
I can imagine the country turning dark, bitter and depressed while the world is here. I can think of nothing worse than that.
Rugby fans everywhere know one thing about New Zealand.
Out of these faraway islands come giants. At Twickenham they run out in a confident, purposeful lope, a long black line of them. A black tide that seems never to end.
Year after year, players come and go but the black remains - rugged, remorseless, rugby's hardest to beat. You know if you are English, French or Australian your team can beat the All Blacks occasionally. But you know that four times out of five New Zealand wins.
If you are South African, your side has slightly better odds - but not much. The All Blacks have won the Tri-Nations in 10 of 15 years so far. New Zealand franchises have won the Super rugby contest just as often. But you also know, if you are English, French or any of the others, that in a World Cup you need only beat the All Blacks once.
