Jordie Barrett's form in Australia has made it easy for the All Black selectors. He's not a wing, he's not a first-five, he's a world class test fullback, and, at 24, the No.15 jersey could be his for many years to come.
Without him the world's most boring test side, the current Springboks, would have won the 100th test in Townsville.
Not only did Barrett step up with faultless goal kicking under pressure, but, as George Bridge in particular struggled under the high ball, Barrett was the rock Faf de Klerk and the South African chasers couldn't splinter.
He might not have been available at all, facing, as he was, a possible four week ban if his red card in the test with the Wallabies at the start of September for allegedly kicking out as he took a high kick had been upheld by the Sanzaar judiciary. So bless the bio mechanical experts who explained to the judicial committee that the angle of his knee stayed the same from the time he left the ground.
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Jordie Barrett of the All Blacks celebrates after winning the Rugby Championship match between the New Zealand All Blacks and the South African Springboks. Photo / Getty Images.
As a fullback, it doesn't do any harm that Barrett is a very big man, at 1.96m (6ft 5in) the same height as Jerome Kaino, or that he's blessed with blistering speed and impressive agility.
The size of his heart has never been in doubt. The Barretts have sporting gifts in their DNA, and their childhood didn't involve coddling. Jordie's older brother Beauden has told me it isn't an urban myth that when the boys were growing up on the farm at Pungarehu, on the Surf Highway between Okato and Opunake, their mother Robyn, herself an outstanding basketball player and all round sportswoman, would meet the brothers at the primary school gate, take their bags in the car, and then watch them run the 3.5km home in bare feet.
Since Ben Smith left the test arena there hasn't really been a feeling of total security at fullback in the All Blacks. There is now.
Rugby's Tower of Babel has been a hive of activity this week. Sir John Kirwan says the All Blacks should play a bit more like the Springboks. Former Boks' captain Jean de Villiers says South Africa should play a bit more like New Zealand.
Kicking and kicking ad nauseum is in the Springbok DNA says their coach, Jacques Nienaber. First-five Handre Pollard doubled down on tactics that have seen South Africa lose three tests in a row. "I think the boys have been brilliant. Yes, we have lost a few on the trot but with the intent, the energy and the preparation, you still try to train exactly the same."
Of the myriad of voices passing an opinion on what's happening in the Rugby Championship, the one that resonates most for me comes from former England first-five Stuart Barnes, who now writes for the Sunday Times.
Harking back to the Boks series win over an equally dour Lions' side Barnes says the series was soured by the theory that winning is everything. "The Springboks won. To be frustrated by their fearful negativity was to be a bad loser. Handre Pollard, the Springboks fly half who is regressing at an alarming rate, even described the South African process as 'beautiful'. But what happens when an even more entrenched determination to play within a strict game plan comes a cropper? Winning is everything, yet South Africa have lost their past three games."
New Zealand's Jordie Barrett, left, is congratulated by teammate Beauden Barrett after scoring a try during the Rugby Championship game between the All Blacks and Wallabies. Photo / Photosport.co.nz
In Barnes' view the All Blacks will be more dangerous in the Gold Coast test. "New Zealand have been scared. They will be sharper, more test-match ready for part two. Here is a team playing with ambition against one alert to any such outbreak. It is some contrast. Expect the ever-changing All Blacks approach to improve a great deal. What else do South Africa have left?"
What are some of the likely changes in the All Blacks approach? I'd suggest these are the most likely.
1) Taking three penalty points when they're on offer. Kicking for an attacking lineout is fine when you're in command up front, but the Boks have terrific jumpers and Jordie Barrett is a kicking machine, so points on the board feel like a great option.
2) More running from halfback, to put the Boks' defensive lines on the back foot. It's a big call starting Brad Weber ahead of TJ Perenara, but it could be a masterstroke. Weber isn't a fresh faced rookie, so nerves shouldn't be an issue, and on the burst he's dynamic. In Townsville the South Africans could concentrate on stifling the midfield with a rush defence, and they did it brilliantly. It gets trickier when the break may come closer to the breakdown.
3) More lineout variations, to attempt to stifle the very smart way the Boks had forced almost all All Black throws to be to the front of the lineout.
4) Encouraging English referee Matthew Carley to clamp down on the cunning Springbok time wasting. Carley can be persuaded. He was the referee who television match official Brett Cronan talked out of sending off Wallaby Lachie Swinton in the Suncorp Stadium test with South Africa.
Ardie Savea's not part of Carley's refereeing team, but Savea is a genuinely charming guy who needs to make friends quickly with Carley, and then point out how blatant the time killing by the Boks is.
Finally, a round of applause for the best summation of how the Boks operate when they're running out of oxygen came from Kirwan. "I thought they were going to give the physio a test cap, she was on that much."
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