Ardie Savea has a big year ahead if he wants to break into the All Blacks. Photo / Getty Images
After watching the test against the Irish last weekend, it was difficult to escape the feeling that world rugby is evening up a bit.
The All Blacks are to be congratulated hugely for managing to get up - but I was impressed with the Irish attitude. Their Kiwi coach, Joe Schmidt, has only been in the job for about five minutes but he focused them really well. Like England, Ireland knew that, if they didn't go out there and take the game to the All Blacks, they would get a spanking.
It wasn't the old defensive mindset we so often used to see from Northern Hemisphere teams, spoiling ball, slowing the game and playing for penalties. They took on the All Blacks at the breakdown, took their quick ball away by really competing at that phase - and they attacked pretty well themselves, stringing passes together and using backs and forwards in concert.
That's what I mean when I say things are evening up. Only two things separated the All Blacks from their first loss to Ireland: the depth of their bench, for which the coach and management can take great pride, and the fact the Irish players reverted to type. They tried to close the game down rather than keep taking it to the All Blacks.
If they'd kept attacking, they would have won. That would have made that missed penalty redundant and they even tried to shut up shop after Jonathan Sexton missed that crucial kick at goal. If they'd kept up their positive play, all right, the All Blacks might have scored a couple of tries but Ireland would likely have scored enough points to have held them out - and made history.
That will have been down to the players, not the coach, but I think the England and Ireland tests gave the rugby world an idea of how to attack the All Blacks. Ireland, in particular, and England had a really physical crack at them at the breakdown and that remains the best recipe.
Still, this is a fantastic All Black side - so hard to beat even when they don't have the ball when it is denied to them at the breakdown or when their ball is slowed and they face a rush defence. Their own defence is remarkable and their counter-attacking so good that they win games even when well behind on the stats sheets.
You can't criticise Ireland's attack - they scored three tries and were 19-0 up, after all - but opponents will want to brush up their attacking game so they can make any advantage they gain over the All Blacks tell. That was especially true of England; they had nothing much to offer in the backline.
But the South Africans are coming up fast in terms of attitude and that four-try Rugby Championship match where they had to win and score a bonus point showed the Boks can not only take on the All Blacks up front; they can attack and score tries too - and we haven't always been able to say that.
France are in a bit of trouble and maybe they need some big changes; what I have seen of Australia suggests three things to me: one, they would be in trouble attack-wise if they didn't have Israel Folau; two, new coach Ewen McKenzie hasn't managed to change the drinking/rebel culture that confronted Robbie Deans; and three, their forwards aren't doing it yet - one of the stats in their latest test (and they wrap up their season against Wales overnight) suggested the forwards managed pitifully few metres with the ball in hand; not good enough.
But we can't write them off - you never can with the Aussies - and teams like Argentina, even though they had a tough season will have noted what happens when you take the All Blacks on in the physical contact areas.
It will be fascinating to see what the All Blacks do to stay ahead of the chasing pack. Their kicking game was a bit off against England and a lot off against Ireland. Opposition coaches will now be analysing the All Blacks' various abilities.
At what stage of a game or an exchange do they kick? Why do they kick? Where do they kick to? What do they achieve? Who got the best results in terms of kick returns?
The All Blacks will want to develop something else to get ahead. However, opponents will find it hard to counteract the All Black depth in the two years to the World Cup. The subs against England and Ireland made significant contributions - a big difference between the All Blacks and the rest of the world.
As for our domestic season, there's a big Super Rugby year coming up - not only to find a new hooker and in the centres, but also in areas like a back-up flanker to support Richie McCaw and Sam Cane. The latter simply has to nail down the starting spot in the Chiefs and it'll be a big year for Matt Todd and Ardie Savea. Can't wait.