KEY POINTS:
I can't believe some people are questioning Richie McCaw's captaincy and advocating that he and Dan Carter are rested after the loss to the Wallabies.
There are two things: first, they need more rugby, not less; second, an average McCaw and Carter are still better than anyone else
in the world.
The All Blacks need to be playing their best available team every time and the pressure they were put under against the Wallabies was essential for their build-up to the World Cup.
Carter, McCaw and the whole All Black team need that kind of experience right now.
And, really, are they playing that badly?
McCaw's been a good captain and there's never been a squeak about his leadership until this test. In this All Black team, who's the captain if McCaw isn't?
Henry has developed that leadership group and it has worked sensationally well off the field.
That group means players like Chris Jack, Carter, Carl Hayman and co have to step up and, often during a game, it is they who have to make decisions, not just the captain.
When I led the All Blacks, it was much the same. I didn't tell Zinzan Brooke what to do, nor Grant Fox nor Andrew Mehrtens.
For a start, there was usually no need and they could be relied on to make those decisions correctly. That's what brings a team along when all the separate parts are working as a whole.
I have also heard talk that McCaw plays in a position which is too busy for him to be an effective captain. But there are pretty much no positions that are not busy.
Maybe hooker because you spend so much time out on the wing (just kidding).
The test is how this All Black team react to that Wallaby defeat. There's no need for panic.
I didn't see anything there that worried me unduly. If you analyse that game, they weren't too far off it. I think they just played a bit too much helter-skelter stuff instead of doing the basics well.
The whole leadership group just didn't quite grab the bull by the horns.
The more pressure they get, the better players and team they will be. They need that experience now. I think it's ridiculous calling for the likes of McCaw and Carter to be rested. We are only two games out from the World Cup.
I will be very disappointed if Graham Henry doesn't field his best available team against the South Africans.