KEY POINTS:
PARIS - For the definition of relentless, don't bother reaching for a dictionary.
Just monitor the All Blacks loose forward trio in the second test against France in Paris on Sunday morning.
If it's anything like their performance in last weekend's 47-3 rout of the French in Lyon,
you'll struggle to keep up with the tackles, runs, offloads, tackles, lineout wins and tackles -- not to mention big tackles -- that so rocked the foundation of Les Bleus' free-spirited style.
Every time Jerry Collins' shoulder struck another Frenchman where it hurt, Richie McCaw surged furiously ahead or Rodney So'oialo transferred turnover ball into space, you began to wonder what would happen if the other 12 All Blacks wandered off the field.
Then it might have been a fair fight.
Fallen French captain Fabien Pelous summed up the suffocating influence the loose trio imposed.
"They were on top of us physically so we couldn't go forward. We would put together three phases of play and go backwards in each one. So we couldn't do much."
In what was regarded as among the All Blacks' finest test outings, this was surely one of the most complete displays by a New Zealand loose forward combination.
Former All Blacks No 8 Sir Brian Lochore, who formed one-third of a number of quality loose mixes in the 1960s, has no doubt it was.
"They just seemed to be everywhere and they didn't stop," Lochore told NZPA.
"Richie as always was at a high level but he was probably overshadowed on the day and that's no disrespect to him, by both Rodney and Jerry."
What makes it easy to compare the contributions of all three is that they perform basically the same role. That is, do everything.
Lochore says gone are the days when a balanced trio was everything. It required a lineout leaping option and another figure strong enough to bust over the advantage line.
"You look at these three now, and they're not little guys. They're not incredibly tall but they're big, they're solid," Lochore said.
"And all three of them have become good lineout players. It's not the height of the lineout jumper these days, it's how high you can hoist him."
Lochore, an All Blacks selector, can pinpoint the subtle differences in their game, starting with Collins, the player who had improved most since his early tests.
"Jerry, probably initially, was a slightly one-dimensional player. Now he's just gained so many added skills," Lochore said.
"His attacking skills are really wonderful, an ability to pass and put players away. It's something he probably didn't have a lot of a few years ago. He did a lot of crashing.
"On defence, there's still an enormous fear factor with a Jerry Collins tackle."
If any of the three is under pressure for his place it is his Hurricanes' teammate So'oialo, particularly after an error-ridden display in the loss to the Springboks at Rustenburg two months ago.
"Rodney went through a period in the year when he was very tired but he's freshened up after we came back from South Africa," Lochore said.
"Rodney, like Jerry, is a massive defensive player. He's always been a good runner with the ball but sometimes hasn't had the confidence to show his potential and his skills.
"In the last few games, he's shown that ability. He's very quick and he runs like a back and can pass like a back.
"Those two things combined are very good."
There wasn't a lot of fresh terminology left to describe McCaw, although Lochore said the Crusaders and All Blacks captain's development as a lineout forward and ball-runner had turned him into the consummate all-rounder.
Forwards coach Steve Hansen singled out the trio for praise at Lyon, highlighting their astronomical tackle count.
It's been happening all year.
The trio were in the top eight of just about every loose forward statistic through the Super 14, on the way to a foggy clash in the Crusdaders-Hurricanes final.
Their dominance of the stats book was even more stark in the Tri-Nations, where other loose forwards barely featured.
- Most tackles: McCaw 66 (first), Collins 36 (second).
- Most passes: So'oialo 35 (first), McCaw and Collins both 25 (second equal).
- Most runs: McCaw and So'oialo 39 (first equal), Collins 33 (third).
Collins also led the way for offloads and "defenders beaten".
Lochore said the biggest difference to being a loose forward 30 years ago was the amount of time now devoted to lineouts, and the complexity of the modern defensive screen.
"Moves off the scrum, moves off the lineout, probably haven't changed a great deal," he said.
"But on defence, we were very much man on man. Right through the game you were fighting against the guy you had to mark."
The skill level had also soared, enormously.
"Every time we've had a good era, since the 60s, it's always because of the mobility of our forwards and their ability to pass a and handle," Lochore said.
"I think this team is developing that. We've still got a little way to go but they have become very very effective in terms of handling and passing."
This weekend will be the 13th test they have started together, lifting them level with late 1980s trio of Wayne Shelford, Michael Jones and Alan Whetton.
Leading the way are Murray Mexted, Graham Mourie and Mark Shaw, who started 15 tests in the mid 1980s.
After this weekend's game, the 114 combined caps of So'oialo, McCaw and Collins will leave them just one cap short of the New Zealand record, held by Zinzan Brooke, Josh Kronfeld and Jones in the last test of the historic 1996 series win in South Africa.
All Blacks supporters will hope history of that same scale follows when this terrific trio go World Cup hunting next year in France.
- NZPA