Baby Black pulled

Protection joined rotation and reconditioning as part of the All Black armoury last night when the coaching panel wrapped their collective arms around Isaia Toeava.

The 20-year-old was hauled to the bench early in the second half after enduring a largely uncomfortable 42 minutes.

It was early in the piece to be removed - an admission that the explosive outing the selectors had been predicting hadn't materialised and that they no longer had faith that it would.

Twice he fumbled sympathetic passes when he was under little pressure and, perhaps unsurprisingly for someone so inexperienced, he simply couldn't impose himself on the game.

But backs coach Wayne Smith's words went some way towards defusing the action.

"If you look at the first half, he had some really good moments. There was nothing that he did that said he needed to be taken off. We needed to make a tactical change and we brought on some fresh legs.

"It was a fantastic occasion for him and I am sure he will take another step up after this experience."

Toeava knows that if he had been fulfilling expectations he would have stayed on for longer. The real question now is whether the panel have taken too big a gamble with Toeava.

He is in the squad as a 'special project'. He has the all-round skills to do the business and the coaching staff are backing their ability to mould him into a superstar before the World Cup.

They have a year to do it. On last night's showing, it seems a little cruel to be heaping all this expectation on the player and possibly also tactically dangerous to be safeguarding a precious World Cup spot for a player who has yet to deliver the proof that he will be ready for it.

On the plus side, though, the selectors' other 'special project', Jason Eaton, delivered the big game he was put out there to deliver.

Having been largely ignored at the lineout in both Christchurch and Brisbane, he was the top jumper last night, taking five takes to Chris Jack's two. That was the part he had to nail last night. He's one of the most dynamic locks in the game and there was more evidence of that last night.

But the lineout is where he has got to earn his bread and butter.

"I thought we got a lot out of both Jason Eaton and Ali Williams on the track," said Graham Henry. "I don't think there is much between the two. They both had really big games for us tonight."