KEY POINTS:
One of the key areas of selection for the domestic tests and the World Cup will be at No 8 and, as all three main contenders were on view in New Zealand this weekend, it was a good time to run the eagle eye over them.
Most people would put the Crusaders' Mose Tuiali'i at the top of the form No 8s this year. I don't think anyone could argue with the fact that he has, since his time at the Crusaders, turned into a far more complete rugby player than the runner and ball-player who came down from Auckland.
However, I rated Rodney So'oialo's game against the Crusaders and thought it was his best since he returned from re-conditioning. And then there is Sione Lauaki - potentially the most exciting of the three but also the most puzzling.
He also had his best game last night but I'd still rate him as third from the three. He still doesn't look fit to me but he certainly made the advantage line, taking two or three defenders out each time, giving his team time and room, something the selectors will like.
The other question around the selection of the No 8s is the balance of the loosies. The test three of Jerry Collins, Richie McCaw and So'oialo have been backed up by Chris Masoe who can cover all three positions, as can So'oialo. So there may only be one more place for a specialist No 8.
The thing I liked about So'oialo's game on Friday was that he carried the ball up well. He made some good breaks and he did a lot of tidying-up, almost Reuben Thorne-like work, that often goes unseen and unappreciated.
He also is very effective at the tackled ball - once getting penalised there but, in fact, he'd burgled the ball so well legally that the referee seemed to figure he must have done something illegal.
Tuiali'i is a much more complete player these days and is challenging So'oialo hard. He has done everything the All Blacks selectors asked him to when they left him out last time.
To begin with, he was mostly a runner and an attacker but he was often missing if the game tightened up and he was found wanting in the close exchanges and in defence. Not now - and he has pace and power.
It takes players, even good ones, a couple of years to develop the knowledge and the confidence and they do it by doing the hard yards in a solid outfit like the Crusaders, where they play as a team. He is given a job to do, shown how to do it and told to get on with it.
The other major selection pointers from this weekend involved Piri Weepu and Ma'a Nonu.
There was a lot of fuss about Weepu at first five-eighths after his fine match against the Cheetahs. He played well against the Crusaders, under a lot more pressure - enough to signal that he could well be used as a back-up if anything happens to Daniel Carter.
I don't think, however, that will mean the selectors will muck around with the balance of their backline. They'll want specialist first-fives - but Weepu has probably done enough to convince them that he could step up if he had to.
As for Nonu, he may well be convincing them that he is a risk not worth taking.
He is an explosive, game-breaking player but he is losing the ball too much and being yellow-carded for a silly tackle in a tight game like that, a loss effectively costing them a play-off, will be a black mark when it comes to World Cup selection.
