John Drake: Charity? Not from this ref

Despite all the debate about the relative strengths of the various All Black playing squads, I thoroughly enjoyed the opening Irish test. It was full of tension and quite high skill. It was won by the All Blacks just as much as it was lost by the gallant Irish.

I'm sorry, but I much prefer those sort of matches, rather than cricket scores.

Would the full-strength All Black team have won by more? We will never know, but I suspect not.

Graham Henry's comments about the All Blacks being rusty would have applied to any combination, unless we just paraded the entire Crusaders squad in black jerseys - and even then the result may well have been similar.

Since the rotation/replacement policy has been in place, there have been some narrow escapes but the All Blacks have always been on the bright side of the scoreboard.

Sooner or later there will be a loss. Like Henry, my preference for this is to be any time before September next year, when it will really count.

Tomorrow night both sides will be out to prove a point.

The Irish have a poor record whenever they have played a second test in New Zealand, so they will be desperate to show the public - and more importantly themselves - that last week's close game was just as much about them as it was the All Blacks.

The major area of concern will again be the scrum. In Hamilton, Ireland looked very Australian at the set piece, and survived on the generosity of referee Stuart Dickinson.

This week, Jonathan Kaplan will not take any nonsense in this area and the Irish will need more than charity.

The All Blacks will see the scrum as a major attacking weapon to set a dominant platform to attack and sap the Irish energy so they are less effective at the second phase.

They'll want to be careful about the method of setup and entry into the scrum. I am sure Ireland will have reviewed the video and noted the late crouch position adopted by New Zealand teams which gives them a millisecond of advantage on the crucial engage hit.

A few words to Kaplan about this may be worth more than an afternoon on the scrum machine.

The lineout will be another crucial area. The Irish surprised me with the lack of planned driving at the lineout. They were content to feed quick off-the-top ball to the backs and maybe surprised the All Blacks, who may have grouped to resist this drive. This tactic certainly gave Brian O'Driscoll and co more space and time to get beyond the advantage line - as if they needed it.

The All Black lineout malfunctioned more than was expected due to pressure from Ireland by closing down the space between the two lines.

There was also the delay in calling and throwing which allowed the Irish time to plan their attacks and disrupt at will.

Kaplan allows a contest at the lineout so there may be more of the same. I also wonder if the Irish will punt on watching where tighthead prop Carl Hayman - and lifter extraordinaire - stands, and place their spoilers in this area?

At ruck and maul time, Ireland showed great technique and aggression. In fact, the likes of Richie McCaw and Marty Holah had very little success in stealing turnovers and the All Black ball was often too slow to allow attacks to flourish.

I understand the changes in the All Black pack were planned some time ago but, frankly, Troy Flavell and Jerome Kaino should assist in this area with their bulk and athletic skill.

I believe Ireland will play much the same way as last week when they showed a willingness to get the ball wide as much as possible. In fact, a more conservative approach in the last 20 minutes at Hamilton could have won it.

Ronan O'Gara kicks for territory and corners as well as any but, with O'Driscoll and co, the tactic of keeping the ball in hand may continue. Ireland will take plenty of confidence from last week but will need to play even better to avoid another embarrassing second test.

For me, the All Black tactics will be simple: dominate at scrum time; ensure lineouts are organised and swift, with a lot of driving from Chris Jack and Flavell; keep rucks and mauls tight, drive often and commit more numbers with a fair bit of pick and drive.

In other words, the All Blacks will be looking to get more forward momentum before going laterally through the backs. Forget about how Luke McAlister and co perform. If the right platform is set, then the guys with the big numbers on the jerseys will be fine.

It won't be pretty, but if it works the Irish may crack and the last 20 minutes will be a try feast.

No matter what is said about rotation or whatever you want to call it, any All Black team would be grumpy and on edge after a performance like last week, so be on guard Ireland.