We mustered all the sheep and fenced them in out of sight.
We asked our country bumpkin alter-ego to lay low for a few weeks and we did tried to present ourselves as a country that boxes well above its weight when it comes to staging international sporting events.
We asked Auckland to represent us as a nation to the world media and IRB, and we put our faith in the leaders of this Super City to put our best foot forward.
On the one foot, we definitely showed them we have matured.
The opening ceremony was classy, entertaining and I didn't see one cringe-worthy stereotype. The co-ordination of the fireworks display with music and street performers also looked and sounded amazing on screen.
The rugby was also impressive, with Tonga keeping the All Blacks under 50 points, and a shirtless SBW to boot.
The purists are probably not so happy about the All Blacks' first-up performance, but they've dominated early in the tournament in other years, and that still hasn't guaranteed a win at the other end when it really counts. I'm not panicking yet.
The other foot we presented to the world, however, still had a great big dirty Fred Dagg gumboot on it (or was it more like a floppy jandal?) I'm referring to the Auckland public transport debacle and the over-stuffed waterfront.
What an embarrassment.
Someone definitely dropped the ball there, and everyone is fending off the finger of blame faster than they can get people to and from Eden Park.
Enough has been said about it all and I'm completely ashamed that we didn't manage to nail it on opening night.
The tournament in other parts of New Zealand has been outstanding and rather than being slaughtered, the lambs of world rugby have grabbed the rams of rugby by the gonads and made them sweat a little.
Nothing like a shake-up to make the second round of games even more interesting. I've got my fingers and jandals crossed that Auckland or the Government don't make another hospital pass when it comes to shoddy public transport and party zones.
This may be the long white cloud that visitors and viewers remember about New Zealand.
In an attempt to demonstrate we can be refined and are not completely consumed by rugby, I'm going to refocus my energies towards the fairer sex (whatever that means).
Believe it or not there is another event of global significance just around the corner called the Olympics, and some of our female athletes are on track to peak on one of the world's biggest sporting stages.
Twenty-three rowers have been named in the women's summer squad to train at Lake Karapiro hoping to win themselves a spot in the Olympic rowing team. Pocket rocket Andrea Hewitt, who finished runner-up at the world triathlon series, can also pack her bags for London, while Kate McIlroy looks not far behind in the transition with a sixth-place finish in Beijing recently.
Meanwhile, the Silver Ferns have licked their wounds after their recent world championships loss and have gone through a natural process of attrition and addition.
Three keen rookies look ready to take on the mantle of responsibility from injured and retired players. Maybe they can provide Ruth Aitken with an appropriate swan song? Even though I'm ashamed of how we performed in terms of sport facility and event management in our biggest city, I'm very proud of how well the rest of New Zealand has stepped up in terms of providing a rugby experience.
And if everything turns to custard again at the business end of the tournament at least our female athletes and teams continue to perform despite the lack of sponsorship, media attention and hoopla.