KEY POINTS:
Even after a convincing 40-0 win over Scotland at Murrayfield, I still don't know if the All Blacks can take a lot out of it.
After scoring two tries early they probably thought it was going to be a cakewalk but that mental state is going to need
to change a hell of a lot when the quarter finals roll around. Their fitness is up there and is miles better than any other team by the look of it and long as they don't fall into a mental trap it should be okay.
Another thing was the whole jersey debacle - the clash with Scotland's grey jerseys was a joke and I don't know how it was allowed to happen.
You didn't have a clue who was who on the long shots on television and it must've been a similar problem for all the players. I just couldn't understand how the error was made when it could've been resolved before the match.
If you got tackled and spun around to pass someone you wouldn't have the foggiest idea in a split second who was on your team and had no chance of picking up the minor differences in the jerseys to deliver the ball to a team-mate.
Past that, I think Graham Henry needs to put out what he thinks is his strongest team for the final pool match against Romania, but I'm not sure he will.
It's a tough one though as the Romanians are pretty raw-boned, working class type players and they won't be soft so there could be a few bumps and bruises through the game.
The best thing the All Blacks can do is play their full team for the first 20 minutes at least and if you want to spell players after that do so, but get the combinations working together first.
It could be best to get the foundation of a good performance then bring the bench players on. A lot of the time when you're playing a weaker team you might not start that well and come under pressure, then you bring the top players on and it's hard to turn it round from there.
To give the backline a chance to flow would be the best thing and it really hasn't had a chance to do so at this point in the tournament.
Elsewhere in the tournament, if you were in a syndicate of some sort and were trying to pick the scores, the South African's 30-25 result against Tonga would've put most people awry. Tonga certainly came out and proved it can compete with all its players against the bigger, fitter guys.
You could see South African coach Jake White was like "phew, we got out of this one and thank god that's over." It seems as if it was right on time too; the last kick from the Tongans bounced out when another lineout would've really tested the Springboks.
Seeing that Tongan result would've cast a few worries in the England camp, as they still have to beat them to make it through to the quarters and that is not the certainty that people thought it would be before the World Cup started.
I suppose the 44-22 win had its moments before England eventually got on top and had Jonny Wilkinson's return to thank, but they're really still not playing that well.
Also, from a New Zealand perspective, there's still some interest to come from the fortunes of Pool D or the 'pool of death' as it has been dubbed.
Ireland has been shocking in all its games and seems likely to be heading home early but could still affect the quarter-final make-up when it plays Argentina.
France is almost certain to record a bonus point win over Georgia so as unlikely as it seems with the way they're playing, a win for Ireland might see the All Blacks face Argentina in a quarter final instead.
