John Drake: Pity the Boks if this team click

There is a distinct absence of pre-match friction in the leadup to tomorrow's test at Rustenburg.

Seven days ago at Pretoria, I fully expected the All Blacks to get a real test, and there was plenty of anticipation that the Springboks would be far tougher at home and that the All Blacks would be right up against it.

It was not the strongest team the All Blacks could field and folklore dictated the Boks were wounded and in time-honoured tradition would die for the jersey, if not the nation.

Frankly, after the first error-ridden 15 minutes by the All Blacks, it was one-way traffic, with a patched-up All Black team whipping an inept South African outfit.

Will it be any different this week? Unfortunately for South Africa, it may get worse as I think this week's All Black buffet selection may be stronger than the previous starting line-up.

So what does each team need to do to perform better?

For the All Blacks, this means striving for the perfect game. For the Springboks, well, just playing with a pattern in defence and attack would be nice.

Accuracy and simplicity at lineout time will help other areas of the All Blacks game.

The management were running out of explanations back in June when the days were short and nights long. Here we are in spring and nothing much has changed.

Some suggest the team are actually holding back in the lineouts, wanting to lull present and potential opposition - aka England and France - into a false sense of confidence.

If true, then this bunch, with their acting ability, would be better off earning a dollar in Hollywood.

Imagine how good this team could be if they dominated the lineout set piece?

Next would be improving the ability to convert more opportunities into tries.

When this happens, I truly pity the unlucky opponents on the day.

Apart from these issues, it is honestly pretty hard to be critical. The team has been mixed and matched from game to game, which must make the building of combinations difficult, but have still won 15 games on the trot.

Although the selectors must be very close to their perfect 30 players for next year's World Cup, I suspect a few of the current group may be playing for a place next year.

Areas of concern must be back-up at hooker, openside flanker, No 8, halfback and centre.

Despite the much talked about rest, rotation and recreation over the past 18 months, I still wonder how much wiser the selectors are in these positions.

If this game was a real crunch match I wonder if Jimmy Cowan or Andrew Hore would be starting.

To me, Cowan's selection points more to disappointment in Byron Kelleher and Piri Weepu's ability to play the style required by the All Black selectors, rather than his individual form.

All three halfbacks are similar in that they have various strengths but none has the complete package. But I guess we haven't seen that since Graeme Bachop in the first half of the 1990s.

I like the way Hore plays, particularly with Taranaki or the Hurricanes, all knees and elbows and a real nuisance to the opposition. But would he be a starter with the bulk required against the likes of France or England?

The Springbok selectors have made six changes, which suggests a change of style from the conservative rugby we have seen in recent times.

By opening the game up, they will hope to create more scoring opportunities - but will run the very high risk of giving more chances to their opponents, leading to a real blowout on the scoreboard.

Guys like AJ Venter will bring some steel, but will the new guys have enough time to sort out the defence which was below average last week? Probably not.

So everything points to a high-scoring match which the All Blacks should win comfortably. The only question may be how many of this group are under threat to remain in the magical 30?

This test certainly has importance in the World Cup scheme, which now seems all-consuming to Graham Henry and his fellow wise men.