KEY POINTS:
Some things you know with absolute certainty and no fear of being proved wrong.
Take the woman in the Customs queue at Heathrow airport this week. You knew she was heading towards Marseille.
No question about it. Something to do with the black t-shirt with gold trim bearing the words "Tana Umaga's 100th Match". I'll go further and hazard a guess what part of New Zealand she came from.
Wellingtonians are not the only Kiwis thick on the ground in the French southern port city this weekend.
There was the young woman with the jacket bearing the words "France 2007", or the bloke who looked like former test cricketer Bob Cunis' (slightly) younger brother.
They weren't hard to spot when you've got an hour and a half to kill shuffling forward a couple of half paces every now and then en route to meeting a stout, testy Customs officer. Must have been a long day. Know how you feel ma'am.
This weekend has been a long four years coming. Ever since the Wallabies doused All Black ambitions on a memorable (if you wore green and gold) night in Sydney in November 2003. And the sense of anticipation has been steadily rising over that period.
Kickoff tonight at the Stade Velodrome can't come soon enough for the hundreds of supporters who have parked up in balmy Marseille.
But the next few weeks are merely the preliminary skirmishes for the All Blacks. Unlike most of the 20 nations - and without getting ahead of ourselves - they can expect a relatively straightforward ride to the quarter-finals.
At that point, things could get interesting, depending on what's happened elsewhere in pool play.
The most fascinating aspect about the first four games for the All Blacks could be the contest within their group.
For example, there's the Keven Mealamu-Anton Oliver issue at hooker.
Mealamu gets first dibs tonight, but on other occasions the selectors have liked Oliver depending on the quality of the opposing pack.
Or the midfield pairing.
Conrad Smith or Isaia Toeava at centre? Luke McAlister or Aaron Mauger one spot inside? The first named of each pair step up tonight.
Are they a natural blend, or will the more pragmatic, less explosive Mauger win the day when the important dates arrive?
And can Toeava, in whom the selectors have invested much over the last three years, push aside Smith, who has had precious little football for injury reasons this year but is someone the selectors clearly want?
All this and more in the coming weeks.
The tricky part in any assessment is putting a value on what is achieved against opposition of a quality which will step up significantly next month.
But that's what selection panels are paid to do.
The All Blacks are favourites in the eyes of most. Assistant coach Wayne Smith made an interesting observation shortly before leaving New Zealand.
He said being favourites should be treated as a privilege, not a burden. Relish it, don't retreat from it.
That might all be mind games, but it is one of the aspects All Black teams at the last two World Cups have handled poorly.
Then again, they didn't have personally embroidered blankets under which they could ponder what lies ahead on their flight round the world.
You can bet there's a pile of gnarly old All Blacks who shook their heads at that one.
Just as you can be sure there will be a queue of critics waiting to blame the blankets if it all goes wrong again next month.
