Turns Turtle

As the All Blacks fans left Millennium Stadium in Cardiff after their fifth successive failed World Cup campaign, a Scottish spectator called out: "Belts and shoelaces, please. "When the Wallabies departed Stade Velodrome in Marseilles after also being unceremoniously dumped from the tournament, a group of England fans pointed at the team bus, and chanted: "Advance Australia Fff … ha, ha, bloody ha."

Has there ever been a more horrible day in Australian-New Zealand rugby history? Probably not. In the first quarter-final, Australia ended their worst World Cup campaign by losing to a substandard England, suffering greater humiliation than they did four years ago when defeated by the same team in the final.

Losing a World Cup final is forgivable. Being defeated in a quarter-final by B-grade opponents isn't. For the veterans Stephen Larkham and George Gregan it was a dreadful way to end their Test careers, while John Connolly's disappointing two-year coaching reign ended in disaster. But this is nothing compared to the doom and gloom New Zealand is now suffering.

For 20 years, the All Blacks have supposedly been the best rugby team in the world. And all they have to show for it is one World Cup triumph - in 1987. They were supposed to win the 2007 World Cup easily. Instead, the All Blacks were bullied out of the tournament in the second quarter-final by France, a team regarded by their countrymen as a complete embarrassment after their loss to Argentina in the opening match.

In New Zealand the cries for mass sackings have begun. The All Blacks rotation policy has been shown up. The head coach, Graham Henry, is doomed, as probably are his assistants, Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith. The veteran All Black hooker Anton Oliver aptly summed it up. "The feeling in the New Zealand shed is like no man's land. There's a sort of desolate decay and the smell of death,". But than again, its just a game.