Forty World Cup games, and not an upset to speak of. But it almost happened, the unthinkable. Wales, the running joke of world rugby, finally did some stand-up.
For much of the epic in Sydney, the All Blacks' long winning streak over the Welsh was in danger as mighty roars ripped
around a crowd of 80,000 at Stadium Australia.
In the absence of any true boilovers, this would do. It approached what a World Cup should be all about. It was a night never to forget, because no one, just no one, contemplated Wales were capable of this.
Who would have expected Wales to strike such a blow at the All Blacks? The only significant strike they have made recently was in a bus on a motorway, in the name of getting more money.
It had been mainly smooth sailing for the rugby heavyweights in the pools until then.
The only major ripple had occurred in Melbourne where Australia almost came a cropper against the feisty and not unskilled Irish. This game did provide an upset in the form of the Australian Prime Minister.
Television cameras caught a distraught John Howard as Australia faced the prospect of defeat.
Howard is a sports fan, a cricket "tragic" as an Aussie journo put it to me (and he went to a union school). His performance was far too manic to be dismissed as electioneering.
The Prime Minister almost witnessed a rugby tragedy, for Australia.
At one point, Howard gripped the railing in front of him so tightly that there must have been serious concern the Prime Minister and the stadium were welded together by a stray piece of high voltage.
You certainly wouldn't vote for a bloke shaking like that.
Presumably Helen Clark was clinging very tightly to something appropriate early today. This was not the way for the All Blacks to go into the playoffs.
The night had begun with Welsh captain Colin Charvis yelling at each of his players as they ran out.
It didn't work at first. The All Blacks scored within two minutes, mounting a dazzling opening. Wales replied by having fullback Garan Evans carted off on a stretcher.
But Wales did soon score as their fans celebrated to the sounds of Tom Jones.
<I>Chris Rattue:</I> The unthinkable nearly became the reality
Forty World Cup games, and not an upset to speak of. But it almost happened, the unthinkable. Wales, the running joke of world rugby, finally did some stand-up.
For much of the epic in Sydney, the All Blacks' long winning streak over the Welsh was in danger as mighty roars ripped
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