After watching both teams fall short in one task after another on New Zealand's version of The Apprentice, I've decided our can-do Kiwi attitude is being seriously undermined in the boardroom and in the sports arena.
Once upon a time, our No 8 wire mentality implied we could solve any problem, often using unconventional means or whatever happened to be lying around.
Nowadays, our problem-solving capabilities seem more akin to a fix-up job with bailing twine - flimsy, fickle and far from elegant.
A recent newspaper article suggested New Zealanders were now followers rather than leaders in rugby, and there may be some truth in that if you've watched some of the Super 14 games and managed to stay awake.
The Blues' recent victory was an exception in an otherwise unimaginative series of games where the South Africans are leading the way in reinventing the never-ending maul.
Where has our No 8 wire mentality gone in rugby?It hasn't always been absent.
In the centenary year for Maori rugby, perhaps it is time to celebrate a characteristic that was often associated with Maori rugby players: flair.
The first New Zealand rugby captain, Thomas Rangiwahia Ellison, showed flair by introducing the haka to rugby and creating the prototype of the All Blacks jersey.
He was also a key thinker behind the running style of New Zealand rugby we so desperately cling to.
Players with flair include George Nepia, Sid Going, Zinzan Brooke and Carlos Spencer. Flair is about the X-factor, taking risks that pay off and being imaginative, and is in no way exclusive to Maori or the past.
New Zealand is still capable of producing athletes with flair.
Aaron Cruden and Benji Marshall easily come to mind (and just happen to be Maori).
However, I believe Cruden's exciting style of play is being stifled at the Super rugby level, and Marshall had to jump the ditch in order for his flair to flourish.
Does New Zealand rugby not value flair and innovation any more? Have we run out of No 8 wire in a highly competitive environment?
Does New Zealand society value imagination and resourceful problem-solving?
Bring back innovation and nurture flair - right here, right now - in New Zealand culture and rugby, and we'll also bring back spectators, supporters and maybe, just maybe, the Rugby World Cup.
