SELDOM has All Black rugby pride been restored so convincingly as the manner in which it was achieved at Marseille with a majestic 39-12 humiliation of France on Sunday.
Five tries to none told the story of New Zealand’s domination in a test the try-scoring count could have been doubled had the final pass stuck or captain Richie McCaw not stumbled on another occasion.
No matter. This was test rugby at its finest, with sparkling back play compared to the usual turgid stacks-on-the-mill killing of the ball when it wasn’t being booted to the heavens to eliminate skill and excitement.
In winning, the All Blacks gave the kiss of life to a game that had threatened to die at the hand of unimaginative law makers and referees who failed to penalise the persistent cheats at scrum and pile ups.
This time McCaw’s men countered that with long accurate skip passes which put the ball into space beyond the normally clustered midfield to release sublime runners like Conrad Smith, Sitiveni Sivivatu, Cory Jane and Mils Muliaina at the peak of their powers.
Ironically it was this quartet who played with the cut and thrust of musketeers, as halfback Jimmy Cowan cleared the ball swiftly and the masterly Dan Carter demonstrated why he’s rated the world’s best flyhalf with astute kicks, evasive runs and deft passes.
With McCaw, Brad Thorn, Andrew Hore and Tony Woodcock maintaining their consistency, Kieran Read, Jerome Kaino, Tom Donnelly and Neemia Tialata lifted to produce their best games of the year.
Read and Donnelly have done much to fix early season lineout woes and with Kaino and McCaw produced a robust drive that Springbok beaters France failed to contain.
The win confirmed this could be New Zealand’s best starting XV, although Adam Thomson, Owen Franks and the injured Ali Williams and Richard Kahui are likely to challenge Kaino, Tialata, Donnelly and Ma’a Nonu for their berths next year.
So too could gifted 20-year-old wing Zac Guildford, whose progress with the Crusaders and that of new Hurricanes first-five Aaron Cruden will be watched with special interest during next year’s Super 14.
With centre Smith approaching the near perfection usually associated with McCaw and Carter, Muliaina back to his best and Jane a revelation on the right wing where he has superseded Joe Rokococko, the backline gelled beautifully against France.
But perhaps the biggest revelation has been lock Donnelly, who has exceeded all expectations and won’t want to surrender his spot to the talented Williams without a fight.
Full marks to frequently vilified coaches Graham Henry, Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen, who succeeded in their swapped roles to complete a second consecutive northern hemisphere Grand Slam without conceding a try.
While other nations won’t make the French mistake in trying to play the All Blacks at their own game, the tourists have improved immensely since losing three times to South Africa in the Tri-Nations.
Clearly the gulf between the best and the rest of this All Blacks squad is quite vast, although newcomers like Guildford and Mike Delaney remain exciting prospects.
Meanwhile, full marks to Blacks Caps captain Daniel Vettori and gutsy bowlers Shane Bond, Iain O’Brien and Chris Martin for spearheading a rare test win against Pakistan at Dunedin.
Although the top order batting remains brittle, the bowlers showed true grit with Bond making a fantastic return to the test arena.
