THE morning after the night before, and the All Blacks were settling into life in the North-East. Even amongst the world champions, however, thoughts were still being dominated by England and their humiliating exit from the Rugby World Cup.

The All Blacks arrived at their Rockliffe Hall base midway through England’s ill-fated group game with Australia last night, but caught the second half of the match before acquainting themselves with their new surrounds.

Today, a number of their players were conducting media duties at The Northern Echo Arena in Darlington, which will be their training base ahead of Friday night’s game in Newcastle with Tonga.

Had things turned out differently, they might have been meeting England in a semi-final at Twickenham. As it is, there is still a sense of shock at Stuart Lancaster’s side becoming the first host nation ever to fail to make it beyond the World Cup group stage.

“You’ve definitely got to feel sorry for the England side,” said Sonny Bill Williams, who was part of the All Blacks squad that claimed the Rugby World Cup in 2011. “It was such a tough pool.

“Any one of those three teams (England, Australia and Wales) could have been out, and you know, England haven’t played badly, they’ve played pretty well, as they did against Australia. It’s just unfortunate that they’re out.

“It just shows how close the Rugby World Cup is. It’s a tournament now where anyone can beat anyone on their day, as highlighted by Japan (against South Africa). It’s just awesome to be a part of it.”

Four years ago, New Zealand were saddled with the pressure of being the host nation, but successfully rose to the challenge as they claimed their second world title.

Instead of drawing inspiration from the home support, England’s players appeared to retreat into their shells in their defeats to Wales and Australia, and Keven Mealamu admits it can sometimes be difficult to prevent a home World Cup from becoming too claustrophobic an environment.

“Thinking back to 2011, you have to realise that the pressure you have as a host nation is there,” said the hooker. “You can’t put it to the side, you just have to walk towards it, accept it and see it as a challenge.

“You have to see it in a positive way, rather than allow it to inhibit you and carry it as a burden on your shoulders. You’ve just got to walk towards it, and see it as a real good positive, playing in front of your friends and family and your supporters.

“It’s never easy when you have to exit a World Cup, no matter where you exit it. I know what the England team will be going through. It’s something you’ve worked a long time for, but sometimes when you meet better teams on the day, that’s rugby and there’s nothing you can do.”

New Zealand’s focus on Friday will be to complete their group programme with a 100 per cent record and guarantee a quarter-final with the runners-up in Pool D, who will almost certainly be either France or Ireland.

The squad will get their first look at St James’ Park when they train at the ground on Thursday, and while they are used to playing in some of the world’s greatest stadia, there is still a sense of excitement at playing at one of England’s most famous footballing venues.

“We’re playing in amazing stadiums over here,” said scrum-half Aaron Smith. “We get the chance to play in a really cool stadium every week and the boys are pretty excited about that.

“I didn’t really think I’d ever be playing rugby in Newcastle, but it’ll be pretty cool to play in a famous soccer ground. It looked amazing from the footage I saw of the Scotland-South Africa game.  I liked Newcastle when Alan Shearer was there – but I’m a big Man U fan to be honest.”