If you’re having an average Monday, take a moment to relive the immense sense of joy and relief that washed over you when Handrè Pollard kicked the ball into touch yesterday after the hooter sounded.

Rugby World Cup final, here we come.

It’s most certainly a darker Monday over in New Zealand, with the country hurting after their defeat to the English. A superb, immense, and worryingly clinical England, if you’re a Bok supporter, but let’s not get into that right now.

Rather, here’s a look at the front page of the NZ Herald’s Sunday paper, which carried a rather simple message:

To be fair, by the time the game finished in Japan on Sunday, it was probably time for the paper to go to print, given that New Zealand is a good 11 hours ahead of us.

Here’s how their online site summed it up:

The Herald on Sunday (HoS) front page has been making headlines across the globe and being shared on social media for “summing up the mood of the country”.

It’s been a morning of mourning for New Zealand after the All Blacks’ shocking loss against England last night.

No one really wants to talk about it and the front page reflected exactly that.

Today’s edition of the Herald on Sunday’s front page is completely blacked out, except for a small text excerpt reading: “The All Blacks are out of the World Cup. If you want to read more, go to the sports section.”

In all honesty, the news in the sports section is not the news we wish we’d printed today. Its the news no New Zealander wanted to read.

Some of the other reports were less magnanimous, reports the Independent:

NZ Herald summed up the defeat with a dramatic – and slightly hyperbolic – headline: “End of the world! New Zealand dumped out of the World Cup by incredible England.”

…The All Blacks’ performance was condemned, too, by Stuff, whose report opened with the line: “What a sorry way for Steve Hansen and Kieran Read to end their All Blacks careers.”

Look, if we’re being completely honest here, South Africa’s media and fans would be a lot more brutal if we were knocked out.

Hell, fans on social media were brutal yesterday, and we won the bloody game.

After results this weekend, at the very least, we will have a new world champion.

That will upset the whole of New Zealand (and some in Cape Town, too), but the chap who inked himself with this poorly thought out tattoo will feel like a right arse.

This from Sport24:

Shaun Pollard got a tattoo of the Webb Ellis Cup on his calf on Tuesday, which shows the years that the All Blacks lifted the title: 1987, 2011 and 2015.

However, the 37-year-old included ‘2019’ in ink, which at the time, he firmly believed there was “no doubt the All Blacks would lose”.

Let’s revel in his misfortune:

Not your best work, Shaun.

You knew England were up for the battle right from the start, and their V-shaped fronting up to the haka has been credited with setting the tone.

The Irish fans may have sung their hearts out in the quarter-finals, but it was the English players who led from the front here:

On to the match highlights, which don’t actually do justice to how good this English outfit was.

Aside from one careless lineout throw, they shut down every aspect of the All Black attack in a display that was as close to total rugby as I’ve seen in a long time:

Credit must go to Steve Hansen for his immediate reaction post-match, where he was full of praise for the opposition:

Hansen was a little snappy in the press conference that took place later, singling out one reporter’s question about his side’s desire to win as disrespectful, but he remains a credit to the game.

The same goes for Kieran Read, who managed to hold it together in the wake of a result that would really, really have hurt:

Whilst some of their media (and that chap with the tattoo) are taking it rather poorly, it’s tough not to respect the manner in which the New Zealand camp has handled the defeat.

Would we be as dignified if we were to lose against the English this weekend? Let’s hope we never find out.

[sources:nzherald&sport24&independent]