KEY POINTS:
What to make of the World Cup's first week. We've had the All Blacks, Australians and South Africans showing some style; the Six Nations looking less effective; the lesser countries still being treated badly and at least one referee getting some deserved stick.
The All Blacks could scarcely
have had a better start against Italy.
Mentally, it was clear they were right up for it. I got the feeling that Graham Henry and his fellow coaches are starting to use some tactics and patterns not seen since the Lions tour of 2005.
How the new team to face Portugal tomorrow night react will be very interesting.
I must admit I was rubbing my eyes when I read Henry's reserve bench.
Having two hookers and two props among his seven reserves seems quite bizarre.
Henry says everyone bar Keith Robinson and Reuben Thorne were fit for selection.
So, after four years of planning, the selectors come up with Carl Hayman and Keven Mealamu as fill-ins at lock and loose forward. Strange indeed.
Then again, this is Portugal and I guess there's no way it would have happened against, say, Argentina.
The difference between their first two opponents is that Italy were rated a real test, whereas everyone knows Portugal, with all due respect, will be roadkill for the All Blacks.
This might affect the mental preparation and influence their style of play.
The best tactic will be to play tight and up the middle early on, strangle the opposition and be accurate.
I'm certain Henry will demand this; maybe Wayne Smith, his backs assistant, will want to experiment with other tactics. I hope Henry prevails on this.
In my mind, there are a handful of interesting selection issues which could come out of tomorrow night's game but the bulk of this team are playing for places on the bench when the big games arrive.
Aaron Mauger at second five-eighth is under pressure from Luke McAlister.
The trick is assessing what Mauger does against meagre opposition, but he must make the most of the day.
Conrad Smith is sorely in need of game time after his injury-ravaged year and, assuming he comes through without a hamstring hiccup, a Mauger-Smith midfield axis must appeal to the selectors for all McAlister's snazzy second five-eighth skills.
I'll be interested in how Joe Rokocoko shows up.
Doug Howlett and Sitiveni Sivivatu obviously put their stake in the ground against Italy. Both looked thirsty for work. Rokocoko will want to match them, at the least.
Henry has said his best team will line up against Scotland in Edinburgh next week.
What will he do if Robinson, in particular, and Thorne are still sidelined? My pick is sooner rather than later he will react and someone will be cut. No matter which way you look at it, the All Blacks are thin at lock and undecided at centre.
I'm certain the All Black management won't have been happy with Hayman's sin binning against Italy. Forget the provocation, this has to stop, otherwise the smart teams will target this as a weakness and a tactic worth pushing.
My interest this weekend will be on South Africa's heavyweight clash with England in pool A tomorrow morning and Wales' match with Australia in pool B in Cardiff.
They will give us a real idea of the abilities of the two hemispheres.
England should compete against South Africa. They are reasonable at the set pieces and can defend.
But the pace and physicality of the Springboks should get them home.
One thought: traditionally South African sides are at their best when rated an underdog.
This time they will be favourites and their overconfidence might count against them. They may be thinking ahead and that's dangerous in World Cups. Just ask the All Blacks.
Wales are less formidable up front than either of those two, but then so are Australia.
Wales leak tries; the Aussies are stingy in defence. This has a Wallaby win written over it but will still be well worth watching.
It seems to me the Pacific Islands and Argentina are still getting a raw deal from anyone in power - be it the International Rugby Board or referees.
How come some teams have three games in eight days, whereas the likes of the All Blacks have a game every seven days? Talk about playing with loaded dice. It also seems officials have pre-conceived ideas about which teams are strong and which aren't. I recall Fiji vs France in 1999, when Paddy O'Brien had a shocker.
Fiji should have won it, but France went onto the final. I didn't see a lot of difference between what happened that day and the handling of the Springbok-Samoa test with another New Zealander, Paul Honiss, in charge.
Things must have been bad to get my old All Black teammate Michael Jones so angry.
I understand that while the likes of Tonga and Fiji are just surviving in expensive Europe with the handouts of the IRB, the All Blacks and England are having a nice time of it.
In 1987, the New Zealand union gave the All Blacks a food allowance of $14.80 per day, which didn't go far with some of the tight forwards.
We got round it by doing deals with various restaurants and some generosity from hotels we stayed in.
I fear the island teams may not be as fortunate.
