KEY POINTS:
Amid all the gloom that New Zealand rugby is disintegrating, two big steps towards a brighter future have been taken with the signings of Richie McCaw and Dan Carter.
There is a strong chance more strides will soon be taken to preserve the All Black legacy, as a number of senior players are ready to commit through to the World Cup.
Ali Williams, Tony Woodcock, Mils Muliaina, Keven Mealamu, Rodney So'oialo and Sitiveni Sivivatu are believed to be seriously interested in staying here until 2011.
If they extend their contracts, the All Blacks will be in far better shape than many have been predicting.
When Jerry Collins suddenly quit earlier this month, there was a sense of doom - that just about every senior player in the country had his bags packed and was just waiting for a reason to disappear.
No doubt there will be more defections before 2011 but if Williams, Woodcock, Mealamu, So'oialo, Muliaina and Sivivatu extend their contracts, the All Blacks will have some seriously gifted and experienced pillars around which they can build a world class team.
And certainty is exactly what the All Blacks need. Right now, they are a little vulnerable. An injury to Williams, Carter or McCaw and the All Blacks will be eminently beatable. They don't have the depth of old.
Henry said last week of the current All Black side: "We're in a difficult situation. The team we had over the last four years had a lot of experience, had played a lot of test matches together - this team hasn't had a lot of experience, hasn't played a lot of test matches together.
"It's a totally different situation. It's got absolutely nothing to do with rotation. It's just the circumstances we're in."
Knowing key players are going to be here for the next three years would be invaluable. Experience is everything in test football, as is consistency of selection and if the selectors have to factor in who might be leaving, continuity is impossible.
However much rotation was criticised, it gave New Zealand depth and the ability to weather demanding test schedules. And it has perhaps been forgotten that the All Blacks under Graham Henry amassed the best win ratio of the professional age.
The luxury of having players tied to long term contracts is that they can all be specifically managed for the needs of both the team and individual. The selectors can plan the development of younger players around the senior players, they can manage work loads, rest periods and, most significantly, they can eliminate constant external distractions about who might be leaving.
For a host of reasons, of the group of players thinking about extending, Williams is the man the NZRU must make sure they keep. Even under new rules, the same basics will apply - teams will need a strong lineout and scrum.
Since 2005, Williams has gradually taken ownership of the No 5 shirt. Most of the loose, erratic play that blighted his early career has been eradicated. He's become more aggressive in the air, sure of his ability to win his own ball and challenge others, while his work in the loose has been outstanding.
He tackles like a loose forward, carries the ball with venom and uses his athleticism to occasionally hide on the wing to pluck cross-field bombs out of the air.
He played his 48th test yesterday and blokes like Williams just don't come along that often. His current locking partner, Brad Thorn, as fit and puritanical as he is, has reached the age where he plans from match-to-match rather than seasons ahead. A long-term commitment from Williams will allow the All Blacks to develop a couple of younger locking partners alongside him.
The All Black coaches would love to get back to where they were in 2006 and 2007, when they had depth across the squad. They were able to build it in 2005 and 2006 because they had a core of experienced players who they could trust and then they fed untried elements into the set-up bit by bit.
Williams is contracted until the end of 2009. By then, he will be 28 and have, injury permitting, amassed close to 70 caps.
In recent years, New Zealand administrators have seen a 28-year-old lock as yesterday's man.
That's in contrast with South Africa, where Victor Matfield started playing his best football once he reached 28. Martin Johnson, Fabien Pelous and Paul O'Connell are other top locks whose quality increased with experience.
It can only be assumed the NZRU made it worthwhile for Carter and McCaw to commit long-term. The sabbatical options will have helped and presumably the same deal can be put to Williams - extend now and a sabbatical will be thrown in, as well as a bit more cash.
The sabbatical option has its critics. Concerns have been raised about a divisive culture where some players receive favourable treatment not afforded to others.
But professional sport is not an egalitarian environment. Nor indeed is any corporate environment. Those who deliver, whose bosses perceive them to carry added value, can negotiate deals others can't.
The only salient point of the Carter deal worth dwelling on is that he will be an All Black until 2011. New Zealand will get the best of him and he's already been elevated to the new leadership group where he has been asked to give greater tactical input, to provide feedback at training - essentially to take more ownership of team affairs.
McCaw's decision to re-sign to 2011 has presented the selectors with a chance to preserve the career of their skipper. The left and right flanker formula tried last night means McCaw no longer has to spend his whole night being pummelled at the breakdown.
Asked how much of the thinking around the dual flanker strategy was about enhancing the All Blacks and how much about preserving McCaw, assistant coach Steve Hansen said about 50-50.
2011 is a long way off but McCaw could get there. Carter will get there and Williams if he commits early, could get there too.
So could Muliaina, whose agent, Bruce Sharrock, said: "We are due to meet next week and I would imagine that we will review all the options."
Woodcock is already a world class scrummager and will get better with age. So'oialo is a worker who, Rustenburg aside, contributes in every test he plays. Mealamu has played consistently well for the All Blacks since 2003 and Sivivatu provides his unique brand of finishing.
There is an assumption now that all players coming off contract are more likely to leave than stay.
If that turns out to be true, forget about the All Blacks winning the 2011 World Cup.
Carter and McCaw have done much to change that thinking, to show others the jersey still carries some weight.
