Spectator Sport | 6 December 2008

There’s got to be some direct relationship these days between the bad behaviour of the Twickenham crowd and the feebleness of the English team. When the Twickers faithful launched into an insanely enthusiastic rendition of ‘Swing Low’ as the All Blacks went into the haka last weekend, you knew there was trouble in store. The haka should happen in relative silence, just like the national anthems — though the crowd has taken to booing them as well. Do the Twickers massive think their borrowed slave song has greater resonance than the utterly authentic haka? As the Barbour and hip-flask brigade trundled back to the shires on Saturday evening, they might have thought it wasn’t such a good idea to irritate the All Blacks.

And the most eye-moistening moment of the game was at the end. As these giant athletes came forward to embrace Lady Hillary — this game was for the brand-new Edmund Hillary plate — you could see their pride and this tiny elderly lady’s joy too.