Old heads lead All Blacks

Richie McCaw and Dan Carter led the All Blacks in more ways than one in Apia. Photo / Dean Purcell

There were four new All Blacks capped in Apia but it was two old timers who, by virtue of their respective performances, made the test all about them.

Richie McCaw and Dan Carter - the old guard, in their last season together, were the All Blacks' driving force. When the pressure was on; when Manu Samoa had a genuine sniff of victory, it was McCaw and Carter who steered the All Blacks to safety like they have on so many other occasions.

The rest of the world might not want to believe this, but these two old men look to have one last big charge left in them. Inauspicious a few months ago as part of a faltering Crusaders campaign, they were world class in Apia.

McCaw defied the heat and human capability to throw himself at every blue shirt for 80 minutes. The engine had no business running at that intensity for 80 minutes but it did and it needed to because McCaw made priceless tackles and one genuinely brilliant steal in the last five minutes.

There's no point in trying to analyse how he's evolved over the years - what happens when he plays for the All Blacks is that he appears everywhere and has a hand in everything. That was him yesterday - a nuisance to the last.

"We were sitting on the bench wondering how he throws his body around," said fellow loose forward Jerome Kaino.

"There were a few times I made a tackle and I was on top of him and he got up before me...I don't know how he does it."

Carter's contribution was less physical but equally influential. Goal-kicking is one of those skills that's not fully appreciated until it is done badly.

The All Blacks needed the points that Carter delivered and with a stiff breeze at Apia Park, none of his penalties were quite as simple as they may have looked.

His kicking out of hand was important, too, especially the perfectly weighted cross kick that landed in George Moala's arms to set up the All Blacks' only try.

But it was the poise and measured decision-making that led All Black coach Steve Hansen to declare that Carter is close again to the player everyone knows.

The overall timing and accuracy of the backline wasn't great, but Carter did his role in creating the space and pulling the strings.

"He's getting that touch back," Sonny Bill Williams said of Carter. "It obviously helps when he's putting the ball between the posts and giving us a bit of space.

"I think he's a bit like all of us - he made some mistakes but overall he played really well and it is good to see him back out there. Those cross field kicks were on point and the special talent he is, he brings that X-factor and we are benefactors of it I guess."