I have to admit that I don´t know a hell of a lot about rugby. I haven-t watched more than about 15 games and I still don´t get it when a player is offside.

In fact, I didn´t know anything about rugby before I came to New Zealand in July 2006 to stay for half a year.
My sport was soccer - I loved it, like probably most Europeans and definitely most of the Germans in that year of the soccer World Cup.

Rugby -  there was some sort of vague idea in my head; an idea about a game played with an egg-shaped ball which some fierce-looking guys try to get beyond some line, beating and hitting each other without obeying any rules. This was confirmed when I watched my first game - a Tri-Nations match where Australia ran all over South Africa and won 49-0.

'It's the Haka before every game, the Silver Fern, the Black Jersey. It's the players standing for something that is bigger than themselves, for a name - a name with history and a name with tradition'


I didn't understand a single move and tried hard to follow the confusing explanations of my host parents. To me, the game made no sense at all. It seemed to consist either of a dozen men lying all over each other or of a time-out in which the worst injuries were treated.

“Bring back soccer!” I prayed. How could people be so excited about this game? Well, I would find out.

With a host family like mine, you can´t just ignore rugby. They were so into it with their regular seats next to the tunnel at Eden Park - and they were great supporters of Auckland and the All Blacks. But it was not just their influence that made me hold my breath when I first watched New Zealand play.

I wasn´t even in the stadium, I just watched the game on TV. Nevertheless I could feel that there was something special about the All Blacks. This team has something we call presence.

Before very long I became a big fan of the All Blacks. I got up at 3am to watch their games, spent a day in stunned dismay after the terrible 21-20 loss against South Africa at Rustenburg, cursed Rodney So'oialo for his fatal mistake, was full of enthusiasm when we defeated England, France and Wales in the end-of -year tour. I lived the All Blacks.

But what is it that makes this team so unbelievably…good? It´s not just that they play some pretty amazing footie, that they do it so well that it's a delight to watch them. It's not just hat they are the hardest team to beat and quite probably the next world champions. Success alone doesn't make a bloody good team, which is what they are.

I don't want to go into individual players in more detail. You could fill pages with the genius of Richie McCaw, the tireless captain, of Dan Carter, whose skills and style I admire, of Joe Rokocoko, Luke McAlister, Ali Williams, Chris Jack and all the other All Blacks. People have done that before.

Although each player is a fantastic footballer in his own right, it's the team that makes up the All Blacks. It's their perfect interaction, their fighting together for a victory and for a good game.

It´s the Haka before every game, the Silver Fern, the Black Jersey. It's the players standing for something that is bigger than themselves, for a name - a name with history and a name with tradition.

It's this team that gives us fans a feeling of unity and of belonging, that lets us suffer from every defeat and celebrate every victory, just as if we were part of the team - and somehow we are. It's the team that makes us proud to be a supporter, that inspires a whole nation. And more.  It's the All Blacks.