You gotta earn it mate. I would have been happy to see the Kiwis win in all honesty, but as an Aussie it's pretty awesome living through what has effectively been a world cup dynasty with an intermission.

It was a brutal performance by Australia. Astonishing that with a field more competitive than that offered by the Rugby World Cup (and has offered more winners since its inception) Australia has managed to maintain such an incredible dominance over the tournament for such a long time.

That England and South Africa - both of whom have spent their fair share of time ranked no.1 in the short form and long form of the game - haven't ever managed to win a single ***le shows how tough it is, and speaks volumes of just how incredible Australia's depth and composure is in the sport.

Gotta give credit where it's due - this isn't like the Rugby League World Cup; there's plenty of teams who can win it if they get their act together and don't fold.