Pressure mounts on All Blacks

Reuben Thorne will take on the role of New Zealand’s Minister of Finance for 80 minutes tomorrow when the All Blacks clash with Australia in the first World Cup semi-final.

Such is the enormous expectation on the shoulder of Thorne and his All Black players, that a defeat to the Wallabies would send the nation spiralling into a pit of despair, financially as well as psychologically.