KEY POINTS:
The All Black theme this week should be quality not quantity. Running up a big score against the South Africans is not necessarily what I want to see.
What I want to see is a convincing performance. A performance where the All Blacks, numbers one to 15, are
clinical and a performance where they raise the intensity, aggression and desire.
Last week in Melbourne was some way below what we have come to expect from the men in black.
There was an unwelcome lethargy and they really didn't offer anything in the second half. There was no variation in style and a team of this quality should be able to change things and revert to Plan B.
I spent the rest of the week in Sydney and had too many Australians ask me why the All Blacks didn't play for field position in the second half. Why didn't they turn the Wallabies around?
We'll probably only find out the answer to that when someone writes a book. Unlike in Durban, there was no dynamism brought from the bench. When replacements came on they didn't add much spark and the game was crying out for someone with the ability to break the line and make something happen.
But I would imagine that Graham Henry and his coaching team have put a rocket up the players and hopefully what happened in Melbourne was a one-off rather than a sign of things to come.
The All Black coaches know there were no excuses and they know that the team can't afford to play so badly again or the pressure will really start mounting as will the confidence of our rivals.
There is also the encouraging news that Conrad Smith is back in the fold and I would think he'll come close to getting some game time.
It's possible the selectors might have given some thought to recalling Ma'a Nonu. He is the type of player who can break the line and win the game. He is also the type of player who could make a critical mistake and cost the All Blacks a game. But what we saw against the Wallabies is that there are times when it is critical to have a point of difference on the bench.
To have someone there with the potential to ask different questions of the opposition.
The All Blacks looked a little short of ideas and sometimes introducing a new face with a different bag of tricks can throw the opposition. They might think they have the All Blacks under control and then the new man does something they were not expecting and they don't know how to react.
That's why I would like to see Brendon Leonard on the bench against the Springboks. He brings a real attacking edge and I felt Piri Weepu replaced Byron Kelleher last week and didn't add much.
He is too similar in style to Kelleher whereas Leonard is a runner and might be devastating if he's brought on against a Bok side that, by 60 minutes, is likely to be feeling the effects of consecutive tests.
