Ahead of this weekend's World Cup quarter-final clash between Ireland and New Zealand, former All Blacks scrum-half Justin Marshall discussed dealing with defeat at home. 

Over the course of a ten-year career with the All Blacks, it is somewhat surprising that Justin Marshall was not part of a World Cup-winning side.

Beaten semi-finalists in 1999 and 2003, the former scrum-half's tenure preceded the 2007 defeat that would give New Zealand cause to revisit the national structures in place.

"I certainly think in 2007, being knocked out in a World Cup quarter-final, that hurt the All Blacks," he explained to Off the Ball. "They'd never had to go through that before.

"The review Graham Henry and Steve Hansen did afterwards, they wanted to put into place some structures that made sure that the All Blacks didn't suffer that disappointment again."

So far so good as the All Blacks look to secure a third successive World Cup win in Japan.

Yet, for the likes of Marshall, there is an acute understanding of what an underperforming All Blacks side looks like for those wearing the jersey.

"I've been involved in a couple [of the disappointments]," he recalled. "Any loss in an All Blacks jersey is hard to take, hard to swallow and doesn't go down well in New Zealand.

"It'll be heavily reviewed and critiqued. The All Blacks are all about history, we've got a great history.

"New Zealanders are very passionate. Don't get me wrong, they're not nasty, they just care and it hurts the nation when the All Blacks lose.

In 1999, during his first World Cup with the All Blacks, Justin Marshall had to be content with looking on from the sideline as France overcame New Zealand in Twickenham.

A high-scoring affair, Marshall has no issues recalling the reaction to their 43-31 defeat upon the team's return home.

"When I came back to New Zealand to pick up my suitcase, some people had written on it, 'Losers'," he explained. "We take a loss pretty harshly.

"I think we've grown up as a nation though, particularly after '99. There had been a real public fall-out.

"John Hart had been the coach at the time and he had a racehorse. A couple of months after the World Cup loss he went to the races and people were booing his horse and booing him.

"The odd person was spitting as well. Just really childish behaviour.

"That was highly publicised at the time and it was embarrassing, but I think we've grown up a lot and accepted losing a lot better."

Something of a watershed moment, perhaps, Marshall insisted that New Zealanders are now better equipped to deal with the fall-out of a defeat.

Taking on Ireland in this weekend's second quarter-final clash, their growth may well be put to the test if Joe Schmidt's side upset the holders.

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