Sean Fitzpatrick: One of the best AB performances I've seen

That was one of the best All Black performances I have ever seen. The forwards, in particular, were outstanding. From numbers 1 to 8, they were all over the Lions in terms of the quality of the performance. I thought Keven Mealamu had a huge game.

That was true at scrum, at lineout and in the secondary phases that flow from there. It was masterful stuff - and I am afraid it's the old story. Sir Clive Woodward was talking it up at the All Blacks.

He has been talking about the All Blacks bottle. He chose a team for the conditions. He chose a team to dominate in the set pieces. They were going to take us there.

And once the All Blacks took that away from them, there was really nothing left. But I come back to the main point - that was really an exceptional All Black display. I am struggling to remember better. They operated over the advantage line in poor conditions. Their skill levels were simply sublime - they left the Lions well behind in terms of skill.

The Lions didn't get over the advantage line. They couldn't trust their own ball into the lineout so that they couldn't try things. And when they did, they were caught 10 metres behind the advantage line. It was a clinical but inspired performance from the All Blacks. You would not have thought those conditions were as bad as they were.

You also wouldn't have thought the All Blacks were as well-prepared as they were. I heard Graham Henry agree that the All Blacks were undercooked for this test. They were underdone, he said, and they'll only get better. That must worry the Lions hugely re the next test.

They have also been dealt a real blow with the loss of their captain, Brian O'Driscoll, in the second minute of the test and now from the whole tour. They have also lost Tom Shanklin from the tour - and it now looks as though there is grave doubt Richard Hill will be able to stay on after he too suffered an injury last night.

I know, too, that there is a question mark over the tackle that may have caused O'Driscoll's injury. There will be some investigations into that.

But I would even go so far as to say that, while O'Driscoll's loss was obviously bad, I don't think his presence would have staunched the All Black flow in this test. I'd caution anyone against putting too much emphasis on injuries. The All Blacks were that good.

I'd say Sir Clive Woodward is also regretting some of the selections he made. He picked Ben Kay and Shane Byrne to do a job and it wasn't done, really. The Stephen Jones - Jonny Wilkinson experiment didn't come off but you can't really blame the Lions backs.

They had no go-forward and no quality ball delivered to them and no backline copes well with that.

Woodward now has to pick form players - Ryan Jones, Gavin Henson, anyone on form who he can pick to throw the kitchen sink at the All Blacks. That's all they have left - and they've got to use it all in the next test.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY