Chris Laidlaw: Wallabies still world's best team

On last weekend's showing, it is going to take a truly Herculean effort if the All Blacks are to win the Bledisloe Cup back again this year.

All this talk about the Australians somehow being less formidable than they were is little better than wishful thinking.

Most of that talk has been focused on an apparent loss of quality within the Australian pack. That assumption is much more apparent than real.

The Wallabies showed against a near full-strength French team that their forwards remain the best drilled, most technically proficient outfit in the game.

The quality of their recycling has not diminished at all compared to previous years. The players themselves may not be world beaters but their collective application on the field is a notch above that of any other team in the game.

The appealing myth that Owen Finegan is over the hill was also exploded last weekend. Finegan was astonishingly good against the French, not least for his often overlooked cover defence.

The Australian lineout, in spite of suggestions during the Super 12 that it was going to struggle in the absence of John Eales, is proving to be just as good as ever.

Justin Harrison has stepped into Eales' boots with ever-increasing authority.

What's more, the Australian front row have stood up to everything the French, rated as the world's best front row, could dish up.

Add to that the ominous return to his best by George Smith, the emergence of a big new bus on the block - David Lyons - and you have a forward pack who certainly are not going to yield much, if anything, to their All Black counterparts.

Gregan and Larkham show no sign of slipping from the extraordinary standards of speed and dexterity that have made them the international benchmark for inside backs.

Daniel Herbert and Matt Burke are now an established combination in midfield.

There are wingers to burn, and with the confident bravura of Chris Latham, the best-performing fullback in the world behind all this, it is hardly any wonder that realists rate nobody - including the All Blacks - as having more than an outsider's chance of getting the better of them.

Does this sound unnecessarily pessimistic? It is not intended to be.

It is just that when the Australians get into their stride they are unstoppable. The secret, of, course is to prevent that rhythmic flow from getting started, but that means taking risks with the offside laws, and it involves a commitment to the most ruthless crash-tackling behind the advantage line.

The Wallabies' greatest asset is their ability to capitalise on half-chances. They have exceptional powers of concentration, but like all sides who depend on the quality of their drills, they can be beaten by individual genius, as the All Blacks have shown several times in recent years.

In an interesting way, the All Blacks are now the Brazilians of the rugby world. We used to be the Germans but we now put more faith in individual flair than mechanical efficiency.

All around the world there are people who adore the All Blacks because of this charismatic quality. Is it going to be enough to carry us past this year's Wallabies?

Nobody has an answer to that yet, not even John Mitchell.