CHRIS HEWETT
THINKING ALLOWED

IT USED to be said in New Zealand that failure to win the World Cup endangered the government of the day. If only the same had been true in England, we might have been spared austerity, Brexit, the “zombie parliament”, partygate, Trussonomics and Dishy Rishi’s fishy WhatsAppery.
Be that as it may, there is no denying that as far as the international rankings are concerned, it is two whole years since the All Blacks topped the log. Having been the number one side for almost a decade, they have spent so many recent months looking up at South Africa, France, Ire...