Justin Marshall: Scotland win shows Hansen on schedule

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen has built this depth without resorting to rotation. Photo / Getty Images

It may not have been pretty, but yesterday's win over Scotland represented partial fulfilment of a project three years in the making.

Since taking over the reins in 2011, Steve Hansen has steadily built up a squad of 30 players who can win against any team, at any stadium, under any conditions. It's a remarkable achievement, one that doesn't get a lot of air time. Perhaps the reason for this is that new players have been brought in gradually, almost by stealth. They've been given time to learn All Black values in training camps. Some have worked their way through apprentice programmes. More often than not they've earned their stripes accumulating time off the bench.

While some of the players have come through from the Henry era, the identity of this squad is one of Hansen's own making. It's easy to forget that key players like Julian Savea, Aaron Smith, Dane Coles, and Brodie Retallick were uncapped prior to 2011. To that list, Hansen has recently added new names - Malakai Fekitoa, Jeremy Thrush and Ryan Crotty to name a few.

To understand how successful this depth-building project has been, ask yourself this question. If the All Blacks were to lose a player from the starting 15 at, say, the semifinal stage of next year's World Cup, would it be cause for panic? To my mind, the answer would be an unequivocal "no".

Over the past three years we have seen the All Blacks perform well and win difficult test matches without - at various points - Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Kieran Read and Sam Whitelock. The list of front-liners could go on. The point is, no player is irreplaceable. Obviously it would be preferable to start that hypothetical semi with Richie McCaw but it wouldn't be a disaster if Sam Cane had to wear the No 7 jersey.

Another interesting point to note is that Hansen has built this depth without resorting to rotation. One of the hallmarks of this regime is that they have been reasonably consistent with the starting 15. New players have had to earn their starts, which has meant they've come into a cohesive playing unit, thus minimising disruption.

But this Northern tour was the right time to test that depth. Yesterday, Hansen sent out an almost entirely different run-on side to the one that beat England at Twickenham last week.

What we saw was a group of players who were struggling to gel in unfamiliar combinations. What we also saw was a fired-up Scotland side prepared to throw the kitchen sink at New Zealand. But more importantly, what we saw was an All Blacks team, regardless of who was in it, that knew how to win a difficult test.

How Stuart Lancaster would love to be able to do the same with his England side. Lancaster is consciously trying to build depth in his own squad and going on last week's effort, in which he fielded a side missing some big names, he's made decent progress in that regard. But it's clear he still has a way to go.

Yesterday's test showed how far Hansen has come in insuring himself against the unforeseen come World Cup time next year.

There's a tendency to look for perfect performances from the All Blacks, especially against lower-ranked sides. But there was a wider meaning to yesterday's game, and that fact shouldn't be lost.