The stonking 34-19 win by the Canadians over the New Zealanders on Saturday put paid to that.
Had the Black Ferns won we could spend the first week of the school holidays with the minutiae of the buildup to next weekend’s rugby final dominating the national headlines and our small talk.
It will be hard to get as excited about the bronze medal game, even if it is against France.
Dwelling on what went wrong and why the women’s team lost its first World Cup game since 2014 will not be uplifting.
All the same, it would be a pity if that post-mortem overshadowed the impressive performance by the Canadians who put on a dazzling, disciplined and determined display to take a final spot.
The gutsiness of these women, who had to crowd fund to get to the international tournament, and who are semi-professionals, is something worth celebrating.
Even though we might be smarting at the loss, who doesn’t love the idea talented and tenacious amateurs can beat their richer peers?
Without the women’s rugby fillip, there will be plenty of gloominess to fill space in the national media in a week when the House is in recess.
Grumbling about the state of the economy is not likely to stop either, after last week’s news the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) fell 0.9% in the June quarter following a 0.9% increase in the March quarter.
It highlighted that the government’s growth, growth, growth talk is yet to be backed up by the figures, with the fall one of three in the last five quarters.
The fall in the economic activity in the quarter was broad-based with falls in 10 out of 16 industries. Manufacturing was the largest contributor to the overall decrease in GDP, down 3.5% in the quarter.
With a variety of business closures announced in recent weeks and construction still in the doldrums, it is difficult to see those still feeling the pressure of the high cost of living will be receptive to the government’s refrain about things getting better soon.
The impact on the economy of the government’s cutbacks to spending on hospitals, housing and school buildings, something we are all too familiar with in Dunedin, has been downplayed by the government.
A month ago, Finance and Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis called out what she described as the merchants of misery talking down the New Zealand economy. Maybe they were just telling it like it is.
Now Ms Willis seems to have moved on slightly from blaming the previous government’s Covid-19 spending to the Trump tariffs, but as commentators have pointed out, other economies have had to deal with similar issues and fared better.
Ms Willis is holding her nerve, and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is backing her. Pinning hopes on the official cash rate (OCR) cuts before Christmas putting more money into the economy, action starting on some infrastructure projects, and inflation holding steady as we head into election year seems to be the ploy.
If it does not work, there does not seem to be a Plan B.
Go Otago!
In Otago, we will have plenty to talk about this week rugby-winner-wise as we build up to North Harbour’s Ranfurly Shield challenge on Saturday.
This follows Otago’s sensational first win against Canterbury in a Ranfurly Shield match in Christchurch in 90 years on Saturday.
It was a thrilling game, with Otago pulling off a 38-36 win when Canterbury had been leading 36-21 with 25 minutes to go.
Let’s hope the team can stop North Harbour becoming the sixth team to hold the Log o’ Wood this season.
