On Rugby/Gerry Thornley: It is surely one of the supreme ironies of the upcoming World Cup that the team set to benefit most from the New Zealand Rugby Union's ham-fisted handling of their failed bid to co-host the tournament is most probably the All Blacks.
Maybe, in hindsight, there was method to their madness after all.
In putting up back-to-back half-century hauls away to the Springboks and the Wallabies, the All Blacks set what George Gregan magnanimously admitted (if through gritted teeth) was the benchmark in this season's Tri-Nations. Conditions had been ideal. Hard, dry, fast tracks with ne'er a hint of wind or rain.
Playing to their pacey outside backs, the New Zealand backline ran in seven tries in their truly stunning 50-21 win in Sydney's Olympic Stadium. The transformation from the side which lost 15-13 in comparatively horrendous conditions at home to England in June, or indeed the one which struggled to put away France in Christchurch's driving rain a couple of weeks later, was to be expected and can probably be attributed to three things.
First off, the All Blacks were always likely to gel more and improve significantly as the Tri-Nations progressed. John Mitchell settled on a first-choice team and particularly a first-choice backline, in which the return of Aaron Mauger was the single biggest individual boost to his team.
The Tri-Nations reaffirmed that no team in the world has the speed and cutting edge provided by the quartet of Tana Umaga (still not firing at optimum level), the brilliant Doug Howlett, Joe Rokocoko and Mils Muliaina. The latter has, until recently, been regarded as a better centre than a full back but by last Saturday, when New Zealand clinched the Bledisloe Cup from Australia for the first time in seven years, he looked the part like never before.
But Mauger is the fella who knits the inventive and silken skills of Carlos Spencer to this rich array of game breakers and finishers out wide. He is Claude Makelele to Zidane, Figo, Beckham, Raul and Ronaldo. Subtle, unfussy and assured in everything he does, whether it be his distribution or deft kicking, it was Mauger's return, after comparatively unsuccessful flirtations with Umaga and Daniel Carter at 'second five-eighth' for those away games against the 'Boks and the Wallabies, which made the All Blacks suddenly click.
However, they then had to return to NZ, hosting soggy night games in Carisbrook and Eden Park. It will have encouraged Mitchell that the team dug in to pull through both times, especially as Spencer's suspect goal-kicking nerve held under pressure both times.
Even with a wet ball last Saturday in Auckland their counter-attacking game, unquestionably the best in the world, yielded a stunning opening try when Muliana ran back a poor tactical kick by Stephen Larkham (still his achilles heel) which was supported by the remarkable Richie McCaw. From the recycle, there wasn't much in Spencer's shovelled pass to Mauger, but his floated long pass in front of the speedster hooker Keven Mealamu was a gem which invited him to probe the Aussie defence and offload for Howlett to score. Even so, the thought occurred again, as the downpours returned in the second half, that the country least suited to these All Blacks is the Land of the Long White Cloud.
The All Blacks will assuredly revel in Australia's climate, yet many of the suspicions about them which England raised in June have not been completely dispelled. For starters, it remains a relatively inexperienced team, and certainly by comparison to the grizzled veterans of England, Australia and France - their three credible rivals for the World Cup crown. Older teams tend to win World Cups.
This All Blacks team is capable of hammering anybody, but how will they react when the pressure comes on in a tight game? And they won't be putting 50 points on Australia in a World Cup semi-final in Sydney. No way. They coped alright in beating South Africa and Australia at home, but it all has uncanny echoes of 1999 when they also sent over a youngish, cocky and gifted team to England and Wales, which put 100 points on Italy and launched Jonah once more at England, but their nerve cracked when the pressure came on from an inspired France in that memorable semi-final. Then too, it should be recalled, they had run up 50 points on France the preceding summer.
As the 19-11 win over the Springboks highlighted, they don't have much of a Plan B, and they can be frustrated by opposing packs who keep the ball and by aggressive defences, not least because their line-out remains singularly unconvincing. In these ways, Australia and England (prospective semi-final and final opponents if the bookies are proved right) seem tailor-made for them.
True, the All Blacks' line-out didn't cost them a third Bledisloe Cup in a row on Saturday, when Reuben Thorne went to the front of the line, called three late throws on himself and they stuffed it up their jumpers.
Earlier, however, Mealamu gave the impression he couldn't hit a barn door from two paces, although this was perhaps more to do with the lack of variation and movement in their line-out. Mitchell and 'our own' Ross Nesdale (throwing coach) still have much work to do.
And then, of course, there is Spencer's nerve and place-kicking under pressure. A complex individual, seemingly shy and quiet as a church mouse but a smiling, extravagant presence on the pitch, you hope he plays like a dream in the World Cup, because he's one of the most watchable players in world rugby. "He's God," Brian O'Driscoll once said in an early interview.
But even He and the All Blacks are a lot better with Mauger alongside him.
