When Act MP David Seymour proposed allowing bars and hotels to open outside their licensing hours to show the World Cup matches being played in the Northern Hemisphere, the naysayers were appalled.
Alcohol was directly linked to violence against women and children and some MPs felt allowing bars to open longer hours was, in effect, condoning the harm. The Greens supported a bill to allow special opening hours but only for All Blacks' games, and the quarters, semis and finals.
They also wanted measures in place to mitigate alcohol-induced harm, like not allowing bars near schools and kindergartens to open, but when that didn't happen, the Greens withdrew their support.
Their votes weren't needed - the bill was passed under urgency 99-21 and I was very glad last Sunday.
The husband and I joined a group of about 60 at the Opononi pub. All ages were there and women outnumbered men.
The only suggestion of riotous behaviour was when a group of nanas sitting at a table showed vocal appreciation as Sonny Bill ran on to the field.
There was a breakfast special of mince on toast and the young men behind the bar did a roaring trade in lattes and cappuccinos. Beers were sold but at the final whistle, the score was coffees: 87; beers: four.
The lovely young publican shooed us out the door as soon as the game was over and that was that.
A great exhibition of rugby we would not have seen had the special laws not been passed. We enjoyed good coffee in great company and most of us didn't touch a drop of alcohol.
The Greens need to learn that just sometimes adults can be trusted to make the right choices.
If sexual assault constitutes touching a bottom in a crowded nightclub, slap the cuffs on me, drag me away in front of a crowd and charge me with historic sex offences.
Former All Black Mils Muliaina had sexual assault charges against him withdrawn by the Crown Prosecution Service in Wales this week after saying it didn't have enough evidence to proceed. Which makes the manner of Muliaina's arrest all the more extraordinary.
Muliaina was playing for his Irish team Connacht in the European Challenge Cup in April when he was arrested minutes after the game and led away by police, in full view of the crowd and broadcast live on television.
It was grandstanding of the most spectacular kind by the police - a pumped-up version of the "perp walk" done by US police officials. And the alleged crime? Touching a woman's bottom over her trousers on a busy nightclub dancefloor.
Of course, nobody should have to put up with unwelcome touching, and that includes me. I would venture that plenty of men have been groped by women in bars and clubs and in a mysterious double standard they're expected to put up with it.
But in my experience, telling someone to piss off - or something stronger - generally does the trick. If you're not bolshie enough to do that, bouncers are usually more than happy to get rid of pervy patrons.
Laying a police complaint seems a completely over-the-top reaction, as over the top as the way the police arrested Muliaina.
He says he never had any doubt the charges would be dropped but the damage to his reputation is inestimable.
And he has no recourse. He would have spent thousands on legal fees. He had to stay silent while the rugby world speculated feverishly on what he could have done to justify being arrested in such a public fashion.
And there will be those who say there's no smoke without fire. But it would be in the interests of justice if the names of people accused of sexual assault were suppressed - at least until any charges are proven.
Kerre McIvor is on Newstalk ZB, Monday-Thursday, 8pm-midnight
