The moment airport staff gave All Blacks rugby team a homecoming Haka

Folau has achieved plenty in his 26 years – State of Origin series wins, a grand final victory as well as kicking a couple of goals in the AFL, but a Rugby World Cup final at Twickenham, he says, trumps all other achievements.

Rugby World Cup finalists the Wallabies must improve rather than hope the All Blacks drop their lofty standards if they are to overhaul the triple champions, coach Michael Cheika said on Wednesday.

Our legacy has been 130 years of winning over 75 per cent of our games. “We want it to be as seamless as possible for our players, our referees and our coaches but inevitably there’s a scrap for resources, for profile and sometimes the debates we hold internally would make pretty good content!” They know how to play the whole 80 minutes – they can lift that intensity.

“Every part of New Zealand loves the All Blacks so what is ours is theirs”.

After leading the team onto the stage to “Men In Black”, McCaw told the thousands who had gathered: “Seeing you all here has made it all worthwhile”.

It was so fantastic so see them finish the job just like skipper Richie McCaw said.

They were fractured and ill disciplined when in 2004 coaches Graham Henry and Wayne Smith took the team to task and sought to redefine what it was to be an All Black.

Katherine Tanner said she brought her sons Liam, three, and 10-year-old Elijah, to see the players they had worshipped during the World Cup.

“It’s good to be home, have a bit of time off now and go again”, Moore said.

Kerr talks of a shared value across other great sports teams with humility as their guiding principle: a desire to be the best person and the best team-mate you can be in a learning environment.

Since their worldwide debut in 1903 only five nations have defeated New Zealand in test matches, with the All Blacks boasting a win ratio of nearly 80 percent for over more than 100 years. From a marketing perspective, Heineken stood out for having “pouring rights'” in and around the stadium with all the accompanying branding, but crucially, they had very cleverly struck a deal to sell fans a plastic pint glass for a pound.

Australia has set its sights on going one step further in four years’ time at the Japan World Cup.

With a few of these new and younger players in the team, Hansen will build them up to be just as successful.

“For the losers its a tough night but what I’d like to say on behalf of myself and the team I thought Australia were magnificent in the way they approached the game”, Hansen said.