These tiny islands have been an integral and treasured part of the World Cup story. They have provided some of the best players, been involved in the best games and added the most welcome injection of flair and colour.
The World Cup would not be what it is today without the Pacific influence and a tournament in New Zealand is as close as the Islands will ever get to hosting. The rugby world will leave these shores with a better appreciation of how deep and ingrained the Pacific culture is in New Zealand. The danger is that everyone will come, celebrate the diversity, fall in love with the Islands and go home thinking everything is perfect.
It isn't. The Pacific Island nations have no money. They have no infrastructure, no broadcast market and no economy to persuade established nations they are a catch worth chasing. If there is an obvious post-tournament goal for the IRB, it is to provide a more meaningful and supportive framework for the Island nations. They have been neglected for too long.
Their contribution to the game in the last 20 years far outweighs what the Celts have given and yet the Pacific Island nations remain unloved, unwanted and unrepresented at rugby's big table. It's apparent the Northern Hemisphere in particular sees the Pacific like some kind of fossil fuel - a resource to be pillaged at will with no thought given to making it sustainable.
Polynesian backs are the must-have accessory in French club rugby. The potential star of the England team is the Samoan-born Manu Tuilagi. There is a little bit of Pasifika in almost every major rugby nation now, with that presence most keenly felt in New Zealand. Five of last night's All Black starting XV have strong Samoan heritage; Sonny Bill Williams, Ma'a Nonu, Isaia Toeava, Victor Vito and Jerome Kaino.
For all this to be ignored would be criminal. Argentina became a cause celebre for the IRB after the last World Cup and the Pacific Islands deserve the same status. It embarrassed the IRB that Los Pumas could make the semifinals of the World Cup yet remain the bastard child - unwanted by the Six Nations and Tri Nations who both said it was too hard to fit them in.
All that changed when the IRB devoted time and energy to finding a solution to the Argentinian problem and, now they are locked into the Southern Hemisphere showpiece tournament, something meaningful needs to be done for the Samoans, Tongans and Fijians. All they have is the Pacific Nations Cup, which could at a massive stretch be described as a poor man's Tri Nations.
Last night was just the fourth time the All Blacks have played Tonga. They have played Samoa five times and Fiji nine yet have managed to play Australia 14 times since July 2008.
Next year will see Samoa celebrate their 50th year of independence and ideally they would love a test against the All Blacks to mark the occasion. But the Irish are coming here in June for a three-test series and it's impossible to see how such a fixture could be squeezed into the All Black schedule.
That is essentially the problem - the Pacific Islands are an afterthought for the big boys and once the established nations have worked out their schedules, they can talk about how much they would have liked to have played an Island nation but simply don't have room. That system creates a vicious cycle where the Islands can't gain any meaningful test action; can't build revenue; can't mount a compelling case to be part of a regular competition with the leading nations.
The World Cup is where they shine because it is one of the only occasions where they spend a prolonged period of time together.
"I think the Pacific Island teams will perform well at this World Cup," says former Samoa captain Pat Lam. "It is one of the few times they are able to come together and stay together. When they play in the June or November windows, it is hard bringing players in from Europe to Samoa on such a short turnaround."
