Japan have done themselves no end of good given they're the next hosts. The emergence of Argentina has been brilliant. For so many years they have been on the cusp of doing something a bit special, but they always came up short until now.
As much as Ireland winning would have helped the tournament, they were too battered by the time they got to the quarters to save themselves. And while Wales might like to console themselves with thoughts of what might have been if only they hadn't given away 21 points in penalties, no-one remembers what might have been.
The bit I have been most thrilled about is the All Blacks shutting up all the doubters. We have let ourselves down badly as a country with all I have seen and heard about our performances leading up to the knockout stage. About the selection of Dan Carter. About the presence of Sonny Bill Williams.
Instead of choosing to be positive, too many have chosen to second-guess experts and worry about past events. To work ourselves into a state of angst was never necessary.
I have loved every minute of this tournament, because I never had any doubt as to how it was going to unfold. I have had faith in Hansen and co because I see them for what they are - experts and professionals who have had four years to work out what's what, and what to do about it. We will beat South Africa because there is more from where that came from last Sunday, and we've already beaten them this year. They're not doing a lot now that they weren't doing then.
As regards this whole event, an honest assessment would be that it's a big deal, but in a town the size of London no singular event dominates. There isn't a paper that leads with rugby - they tip their hat with a headline or a photo but the detail is always page six or eight. The gap in between is filled, of course, with football. I doubt it would have been any different even if England were in the semis with Wales and Scotland and Ireland.
Rugby or no rugby, to my mind London is the greatest city in the world. It is the city of history and kudos. It is a financial hub, it is largely beautiful any which way you turn, it feels rich, it feels luxurious, it lifts your spirits. Well it does if you hang out in Mayfair, where I am. I'm sure if you're on the Piccadilly line in the centre of the earth in that God-forsaken, claustrophobic transportation nightmare they call the underground then it seems less glamorous.
I also went to the country this past weekend. If you've ever seen those programmes like Move to the Country, this is the sort of place I went. Little villages with a single street where the church from 1500 is at one end and the town hall is at the other. In between are the rows of quaint old buildings that house small hardware stores, butchers, pubs, and a disproportionately large number of charity shops. It's quaint but you wouldn't want to live there.
I asked a cab driver what the local industry was. He said there wasn't one. There were half a dozen cab companies, all with exotic names like our cab from "Southern Valley" taxis. I asked the driver how many cabs in the company? He was it. Then when it came time to leave, not one of them was working and for a moment it looked like we might be stuck in British countryside.
But we got back to the station in time, and I can tell you trains here are an experience Len Brown should look into. They have classes, and by the time you get to first class there is legroom and reclining seats and power to charge your phone. There is food and civilisation, and if trains were like that in Auckland, they'd be a smash hit.
The reason we went to the country was to see Andrew Nicholson. If you missed the interview earlier this week on the radio, it is quite the story.
The fact he can walk is nothing short of a miracle. When they looked at his x-rays, doctors could not explain how he was still moving. There are very few who could do the operation he needed.
What they normally face with those injuries is a tetraplegic - in Mr Nicholson's case they ran the risk of making him one. The recovery is slow, and he admits he's a bit impatient with rehab. But what a lovely man, with a wonderful wife, charming kids and a lifestyle in the British countryside that wouldn't look out of place in a movie.
Andrew, like all of us, has been watching the rugby. He, like an increasing number of us, sees a victory for the right team.
I'll be at Twickenham this weekend for the next game. God-willing, I will be back there the weekend after that. And if the All Blacks do what they did to the French, it's over.
