The trouble is, this audience is being fed rubbish by a writer I can't stomach, not only for disregarding Henry's incredible record, but also his determination to moan like an imbecile when the NZRU finally had the strength of character to not sack a coach post world cup.

Appropriate to mention here then that a Silverfern forum member who contacted Rattue received no reply from the press because the Herald thinks it can write opinion pieces without accountability. Golly.

Maybe a misunderstanding was involved, but it indicates the depressing, crassly arrogant environment in which the Herald operates.

Reverence for this "Journalist" is in drastically short supply.

Every All Black failure now represents an opening through which Rattue and co. can falsely claim or imply they knew better in 2007, that the World Cup campaign was only unsuccessful due to the coach.

Rattue has made so many errors, from facts to analysis. The New Zealand Herald should have had the balls to acknowledge they got things wrong and the natural order of sports writing demands Rattue be sacked.

My antipathy towards Rattue certainly wasn't eased when he gave Henry a spray last week that sounded like sour grapes.

Having studiously avoided making any research about the World Cup failure, this man who refused to base his arguments in reality appeared more than happy to stab Henry in the back from his position on his soapbox writing for a national paper where there was no right of reply.

Rattue remains empowered to serve up steaming piles of bilious tripe, issuing opinion pieces from upon high. The idiotic columnist was at it again - you concluded - making up the facts to suit himself in a playground in which no one can answer back. If only Henry could have demanded a six month inquiry into Rattue's performance conducted by a lawyer and former tiddlywinks star.

Instead of that, we just have to put up with these journo hacks when quality analysis and research is in short supply.

The net result of the World Cup fallout is that I'll never read the Herald again. No article from that rag will ever catch my attention while they continue to misinform readers with factual inaccuracies and a shallow surface-skimming exploration of issues. There will never be a time soon enough for Rattue's departure.

A South African friend of mine talked of a similar - and far more significant - dilemma as an ardent supporter of the Springboks. He wanted the best for players and fans but loathed what he regarded as narrow minded and incompetent journalism.

He concluded the only way to deal with this conundrum was to read theSilverfern.com but avoid newspapers like the New Zealand Herald.

I have yet to meet one outright endorser of the content of Rattue's articles, even though journalists on the forum have claimed the man is doing what he is paid to do.

In 32 years of following the All Blacks, this dilemma has never arisen before. For better or worse, including the paper's infuriatingly arrogant assumption that the entire country is always behind them, the feelings have ranged from being fanatically annoyed by the tabloidisation of our mainstream papers through to indifference. But never impressed.

What hurts most is that journalism's safety net, an ability to rely on widespread support built up through more honest if not always perfect times, enabled a blatantly prejudiced decision which handed this smug columnist an outrageous position as an opinion writer. The NZ Herald made history by joining the ranks of Stephen Jones and his incendiary ilk.

The New Zealand Herald obviously doesn't believe it has to fight for the supporters' loyalty, that their paper is now open to personal crusades and the masses will just have to cop it. It stinks and we're stuck with it.

When that fresh looking squad was named yesterday, I didn't get the information from the Herald. Disregarding the self-important out-of-date tabloid rubbish they reckon qualifies as a newspaper column you want to cheer the silverfern website on. It's going to be a difficult season.