Half a world away, there was a pocket of support for Namibia in Taranaki where the family of winger David Philander have made their home.
Leilani Philander wore her Namibian colours with pride in a heartland New Plymouth pub this morning, utterly proud as her husband and his team took to the field for a trouncing.
They moved here with their young son three years ago so David could play for Poverty Bay.
"They did a really good job; they were playing the best team in the world. He's so honoured to have played the All Blacks and living in New Zealand as well, pretty stoked."
And around New Zealand even staunch All Black supporters swapped allegiance momentarily, almost wanting Namibia to score.
And when they did score, the crowd got right behind them and celebrated.
Many fans swapped their coffee at half-time for a pre-work beer and made friends while they were at it.
While some made the effort to dress up, others simply came out to watch the game. Die-hard fans were only slightly disappointed in the All Blacks' failure to fire.
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