Two drinking controversies at the World Cup, two completely different ways of handling the fallout.
Young All Blacks wing Zac Guildford might have wished he played for England after he was forced to front the media yesterday and admit he had issues with drinking.
Guildford's latest brush with the bottle came after the All Blacks' loss to Australia in the Tri Nations decider in Brisbane, a match in which he freely admitted later he performed poorly in.
It came after a series of incidents in which he had drank heavily, and the Herald revealed another one occurred in Auckland last month following the All Blacks' Bledisloe Cup victory over Australia. But in none of these incidents did 22-year-old Guildford break the law, or even team protocols, according to manager Darren Shand.
Guildford's public apology was the public response, but behind the scenes senior All Blacks will be annoyed a player with only seven tests behind him has created an issue and negative headlines in such an important tournament and that should hurt the player more.
In stark contrast to this was the way England team management handled the Mike Tindall incident in Queenstown.
Thanks to a security guard with a grudge and some allegedly misappropriated CCTV footage, the fact that Tindall and a group of his team-mates were drinking until the early hours a day after England's narrow victory over Argentina has been gleefully splashed across newspapers in New Zealand, England and elsewhere.
Tindall getting cosy with a "blonde'' only weeks after marrying into the royal family added frission to the story and the bizarre element of potential dwarf throwing at the bar meant it was ready-made for the British tabloids.
Tindall, a senior player in the England set-up, didn't break the law or team protocols, either, but there is no question he'd had a few drinks.
The reaction of England's management?
"[Players] have got to relieve the pressure and let off steam at the right time,'' coach Martin Johnson told the Daily Mail. "It was a good idea. I had no problem with them doing that.
"On the streets of Dunedin and in Queenstown, you have players out and about and engaging with the public. I don't want to get away from that. I don't want to lock people away. There is no implication from anyone at the bar that there has been any bad behaviour.''
Teams from the Northern Hemisphere not only play the game a little differently to those from the Southern Hemisphere, but they also have a totally different attitude to drinking. Wales centre Jamie Roberts, a standout at this World Cup with his performances against the Springboks and Samoa, clutched a bottle of beer while talking to reporters after his side's victory over the Pacific Islanders in Hamilton on Sunday.
After leading his side to victory over Canada in Napier later the same night, France skipper Aurelien Rougerie sipped a lager at the official post-match press conference.
There is nothing wrong with this. In fact, it surely should be encouraged as it means the players are comfortable in the company of the media. But the All Blacks would never do it and it's not only because they are sponsored by a rival beer company. It's highly unlikely the Springboks or Wallabies would either.
It's all about appearing 'professional' for Southern Hemisphere rugby countries - all about recovery, sacrifice, doing the right thing. How many stories did we read about New Zealand players in this year's Super Rugby competition giving up alcohol so they could give themselves a proper shot at making the World Cup squad?
On the other hand, players from France, England, Wales and highly likely Scotland and Ireland, adhere to a much more relaxed view to alcohol - one from the amateur days of rugby when a beer was a reward after a tough game and socialising with team-mates and the opposition was a major part of the occasion.
As always, moderation is the key to drinking and most rugby journalists will take a `there but for the grace of God' view of the Guildford kerfuffle.
Everyone will have their own view on the matter, of course, and while hitting the bottle is not to be encouraged, abstinence isn't necessarily the answer either. But, as the amateur rugby ethos slowly fades in New Zealand amid talk of tight turnarounds, ice baths and protein shakes, maybe the Northern Hemisphere can still teach us a thing or two down here after all.