In a performance that must surely guarantee them the Halberg Team of the Year Award for 2008, the Kiwis gave us the greatest gift that a sporting victory can deliver. That being an unexpected injection of self-respect, unity and validation.

My overriding memory of this remarkable triumph will always be that an obvious game-plan of relentless marauding close to the ruck backed up by an intensely-concentrated defence frustrated a Kangaroo outfit that, as much as Ricky Stuart would have attempted to stamp it out, inevitably went into the test with a born-to-rule demeanour.

This arrogance was hardly surprising. When you've conquered as long and as often as the Kangaroos have, a certain smug complacency becomes second nature.

However, what's most disconcerting to witness is how this cockiness has polluted much of Australia's reaction since the ambush at Suncorp.

This ungraciousness has been spearheaded by the petulant, ghastly loser that he is, Ricky Stuart himself. It's perfectly legitimate for fans to criticise a coach but it's way out of order for the coach to accuse officials of "a stitch-up".

I hope Stuart has effectively sealed his ejection from the job with such dumb behaviour.

The other result that completed such a satisfying duo of victories in the weekend was the All Blacks eventually snuffing out any Welsh resistance at Cardiff.

Make no mistake. Graham Henry has every right to take this win as a personal triumph. He returned to Cardiff with an All Black team that won in a manner directly attributable to the best of his coaching abilities.

As he did in Hong Kong against the Aussies and on many other occasions, Henry reportedly delivered a deeply inspiring half-time message to his troops that saw them go up at least three gears in the second half.

On top of that, his undoubted reputation as arguably the best defensive coach ever at international level has again been underlined by the extraordinary fact that the men in black have yet to concede a try against Scotland, Ireland or Wales on this tour.

If the All Blacks can keep England tryless as the Springboks did in the weekend, what a massive tribute that will be to Henry's defensive tactics. And if he plays much the same All Black team at Twickenham as he has in the last two Grand Slam encounters, then this humble critic will gladly acknowledge that his redemption is complete.

As a footnote to this column, am I right in assuming that the supposed bogey of our teams that play in trans-Tasman tournaments has somewhat been put to rest of late?

In brief, the Warriors reached the last four in the NRL, the Breakers are leaders in the NBL and the Phoenix are gathering momentum.

Our sporting heroes are doing us proud. Your thoughts please.