New Zealand in tatters after rugby disaster

YOU dont get much for a pair - not in this game.
Yep, the biggest clue to New Zealand's sporting psyche came halfway through my three weeks in this remote and generally quite country.
I was filling up the camper van I had hired in Taupo on the North Island and when I went in to hand over my $50 for a tank of unleaded, I spotted a sign on the counter.'Free All Black with every purchase'.I laughed at the big basket of three inch high All Black figure sitting in their plastic packets behind the cashier as I handed over my money."You want some?" said the cashier.
I paused for a second, half-smiled and said nothing."Take the whole damn lot if you want" he added. I grabbed a couple as my cousin is a rugby fan and thats why I walked out with my car keys in one hand and plastic figures of All Blacks Daniel Carter and Joe Rokocoko.
You see interest in the finest sports team in the country is at an all time low - and this is a nation still feeling the pain of last autumns rugby world cup disaster.
I got talking to a boat owner in the pretty town of Russell in the Bay of Islands and he explained just why the country was still hurting so bad. The All Blacks expected to win the World Cup. Simple as that. Nothing less would do. When they were drawn in their group against Italy, Portugal, Scotland and Romania and most of the country didnt bother to watch. These were just warm up games for the knock-out phase. They demolished their way through allowing just 35 points to be conceeded and scoring over 300 for themselves.
When they met the French in Cardiff the nation switched on. The French, who had been embarrased on their own patch in the opening match were surely be dispatched with equal ease.The All Blacks were 13-3 up and cruising when the imploded after some questionable refereeing decisions saw them lose in dramatic circumstances.The fall out from the World Cup was imense. Millions of dollars of sponsorship and other revenue was lost as the Kiwi bandwagon flipped over and laid on its roof. It was a write-off job.
Four months on and you cant get a positive rugby conversation out of most Kiwis. They are certainly a proud nation but there's little they can do for four years apart from wait and make sure it doesnt happen again.
Sad thing is walking around Auckland there are still dozens of locals wearing their proud black shirts and on Queens Street, which runs through the heart of town, the big rugby shop is called All Blacks, Champions Of The World.
Until 2011 then, the Kiwis will probably still be sulking - and I doubt that tray of plastic rugby figures will be getting any smaller.