KEY POINTS:
Of all the non-answers uttered by Graham Henry during this World Cup, this one stands out the most. Asked whether he thought the All Blacks had had enough tough rugby leading up to the quarterfinals, Henry said: "I don't know. We have no control over that. We hope
so. I'll tell you after the quarter-final."
It is one of the last unanswered questions. Leading into an expected quarter-final with France in Cardiff, the All Blacks have met with a distinct lack of competition, especially when Scotland took the disappointing, but ultimately pragmatic, step of fielding a second-string team.
France, on the other hand, have come through the toughest pool in the competition. Not unscathed, it should be noted, but still intact.
While the All Blacks continue to repeat that well-worn phrase "looking only at the next game", it is inevitable thoughts will start turning to the Millennium Stadium and what French legend Jean-Pierre Rives calls, should it be France vs New Zealand, "the final before the final".
They were never going to get that sort of test this weekend against Romania. You have to look back to the dark days of Nicolae Ceaucescue before you find a Romanian side that was a credible threat to anything but crimes against rugby.
Sure, they're big and muscle-bound but their technique and speed are so far removed from what the All Blacks will face in Cardiff, whether it be from France or Argentina, as to render their last pool match little more than opposed training.
"There was a lift in intensity in the last game against Scotland and made us aware of where we needed to be physically," said utility prop Greg Somerville. "I don't think we'll be short of [match toughness] come quarter-finals."
That might be wishful thinking.
In a strange irony, the All Blacks' electric start to the tournament could have worked against them. When they found themselves 38-0 up against Italy in the first 20 minutes, they had effectively put paid to any resistance they could expect from the ninth-ranked team in the world and the next highest-ranked team in the pool.
If they had shown any sign of vulnerability in the match, or been pushed to any degree by the Italians, then Scotland coach Frank Hadden might have been tempted to have a genuine pop at the All Blacks while on home turf.
In the end, the Scots tackled bravely and were competitive at the breakdown but the All Blacks still have little gauge as to how they will react if they fall behind, or if the match remains tight for any length of time.
They will argue, with some justification, that they have no intention of letting teams within arms' reach - but is that a realistic expectation when the teams are whittled down to the world's elite?
Hooker Keven Mealamu said there was little doubt the side could have benefited from facing stronger opposition, but there was little they could do about it.
"It's a tough one because we've got no control over who's in our pool," he said. "We have to deal with what we have been dealt so for us it's been a matter of achieving the goals we need to achieve; get out of the game what we need to get out of the game.
"But it has been tough [achieving those goals] because we've been able post some high scores early. If there's one thing we can take out of that, it is the need to get our execution right and sort out those last passes."
To be fair, the All Blacks are not alone in the need for some serious matchplay, but a look at the boxes provided shows their need might be more acute than others.