What has happened to dear old rugby union? We knew the game of Beaumont and Botha and of Fox and Catchpole would begin to fade into sepia the moment the game went professional in 1995. But the sport is reinventing itself on an almost yearly basis in the scramble not to lose out in the race for supporters and sponsors. And in front of a world-record crowd of 109,874 in Sydney on Saturday, it may have reached its pinnacle.
A bare description does not do it credit. Its start alone was jaw-droppingly unbelievable. Little wonder thousands of All Black supporters flocked to Auckland airport to welcome the team home yesterday.
"I doubt if there's ever been a better or more remarkable game of rugby ever played," Australia's captain John Eales said. "In all my years of playing I've never seen a game like that."
The All Blacks scored with an intercept try after 90 seconds and then ran back the Wallabies' restart twice in succession to lead 24-0 in the ninth minute when Andrew Mehrtens slotted a penalty.
By half-time Australia, incredibly, were level, having scored four tries, and they twice led after the interval before Jonah Lomu smashed over for the match's 10th try with a minute remaining to clinch the victory.
Australia conceded only one try in six matches in claiming last year's World Cup. This month's two Tri-Nations meetings have already yielded 18 tries, surpassing the 17 they managed to pry from each other in the six rounds of last year's series. The sport appears to have burst its shackles.
The new tackle law has made the most profound difference. The stricture that players must arrive at the tackle from an onside position has given the ballcarriers a pragmatic advantage: possession is nine-tenths of the law.
Australia's fightback was based on that premise, and between the 10th and 50th minutes they did it so well that they scored 27 points while the All Blacks were rendered chanceless and scoreless.
With Stephen Larkham endlessly bringing his runners through for phase after phase of possession, the All Black defence was almost bound to buckle. Time and again the Wallabies mastered the new orthodoxy of manipulating the defence so that backs were running at forwards and all their first four tries came from the men behind the scrum.
A less resolute side would have been bewildered by the turn of events, but the new coach, Wayne Smith, has restored reverence in the All Black jersey. And the tradition says the All Blacks are never beaten. When you have got Lomu lurking on the left wing, you never are.
Scorers: Australia - Tries: Mortlock 2, Latham, Roff, Paul. Conversions: Mortlock 2. Penalties: Mortlock 2. New Zealand - Tries: Umaga, Alatini, Cullen, Marshall, Lomu. Conversions: Mehrtens 4. Penalties: Mehrtens 2.
AUSTRALIA: Latham; Mortlock (Walker, 76 min), Herbert (Kafer, 69), Little, Roff; Larkham, Gregan; Harry (Panoho, 57), Foley (Paul, h-t), Dyson, Giffin, Eales (capt), Connors, Wilson (Kefu, 46), Williams (Jacques, 78).
NEW ZEALAND: Cullen; Umaga, Ieremia, Alatini, Lomu; Mehrtens (Brown, 65), Marshall (Kelleher, 70); Hoeft, Oliver (Hammett, 72), Meeuws, Blackadder (capt), Maxwell (Flavell, 50), Randell, Robertson (Kronfeld, 44), Cribb.
Referee: A Watson (RSA)
