John Drake: Pride goeth before a lost World Cup

The Springboks had the desire and passion which, stupidly, we thought they had lost.

The All Blacks were supposed to play the perfect game and crush Jake White's no-hopers. Instead, they went through the motions and were reminded that total commitment is required in every test match.

I understand the buildup was relaxed - one training session was cancelled in favour of a look at animals in a game reserve.

The Sun City holiday resort where the team stayed may not have helped the motivation either, as some players may have been keener on working out how the wave pool worked rather than how Victor Matfield keeps on winning our lineouts.

This environment brings back memories of the 1999 World Cup, when the All Blacks took themselves off to France for some luxury R&R midway through the tournament.

Talk of approaching the International Rugby Board about rough play and targeting of superstars might have been better left for a time other than a week before a test. I can't imagine a better team talk for the Springboks.

The All Blacks are a far better team than the Springboks in personnel and pattern. But this loss may be more important than the close calls against Ireland, Argentina and Australia as, if the All Blacks had another win, then not much may have been made of the perpetual problems.

If winning next year's World Cup is the ultimate goal, this match graphically showed how easily and quickly things can go wrong.

This result could just as easily happen in 13 months at, say, the World Cup semifinal, if the issues aren't corrected, or at least recognised.

It may be about time the questions from the media and public about areas of concern received some intelligent responses from the All Black management.

The lineout is not of consistent quality and must be addressed.

If the coaches and players cannot get the lineout to the required standard, they should be replaced.

No problems with the scrum which is consistent no matter which players are used.

The only issue may be that scrums can be worked on and improved, so we can probably expect the likes of France, South Africa and England to be close to us by next year.

The ruck and maul will continue to rely on the brilliance of Richie McCaw - I've wasted enough words trying poorly to explain how good this guy is and how much he contributes to this All Black era.

At the moment this team rely too much on McCaw and Daniel Carter, which is always dangerous.

I still have real concerns about our best loose forward combination.

Jerry Collins and Rodney So'oialo have special qualities and are preferred, but despite all the rest and rotation I don't think Graham Henry and Steve Hansen will be totally happy with the mix.

What they want is extra strength at the lineout, a truly powerful ball runner from the base of the scrum and consistent support for McCaw at the breakdown.

In any team from midgets to the All Blacks, the halfback is a critical decision maker.

All three on show this year - Byron Kelleher, Jimmy Cowan and Piri Weepu - are quality players but again I wonder if Henry and his backs coach Wayne Smith may be looking for a player with a combination of all three - maybe someone like the much-talked about Andy Ellis from Canterbury.

The other backs should give any opponents sleepless nights. Sure we are not settled on the centre, but the choices of Conrad Smith, Ma'a Nonu and Mils Muliaina aren't too bad.

We have wingers to burn and as long as Carter and Aaron Mauger stay fit, we have a unit as good as any.

Henry has said that from now, the best will be played in every test match.

Maybe with this regular selection the problems will be remedied and consistent selection will bring consistent quality.

Once the best are selected there will be increased pressure from within and outside - the public and media - for a higher quality of performance.

Yesterday's test showed what pressure can do to individuals.

The Springboks used the pressure to collectively play above their individual skills.

The All Blacks are the best team in the world, but showed that even the finest players and coaches can be found wanting if they take things for granted.

In sport, there is always a fine line between confidence and arrogance. Hopefully this group will feel the pain of this loss and will not try to gloss it over as just a bad day at the office or an unlucky game which could have gone either way.

How the management and players react may determine if they will have the humility required to succeed over the next 13 months.