There is something amiss in Kiwi land where the rugby sides seem to have surrendered their swagger to, well, anyone.
At least, that is the way it would seem when the All Black Sevens lost to the Aussies in the London Sevens in the plate semifinals by the embarrassing score of 40 – 7.
That humiliation came on the heels of a loss to Scotland in the quarters where the All Blacks blew a 21 – 0 lead over the kilt wearing Scots.
That loss was punctuated by a late penalty for having eight men on the pitch, one over the maximum permitted number, the sort of disarray that is normally considered more the province of the Canadians, or some other side such as that.
Scotland went on to be the ultimate winners, defeating England, so the Kiwis can at least take some small sense of comfort from the fact that the Aussies who so badly defeated the All Black side did not have the wherewithal to win the plate.