KEY POINTS:
After so much speculation, you wondered how one man would cope.
He was, after all, setting the standard for others to follow. And this was history in the making, the first time that an officially Reconditioned All Black (RAB) had taken the field.
It has happened before, of
course, in unofficial ways. Troy Flavell, for instance, took off to Japan where he was reconditioned in the Toyota factory. But that was child's play compared to this.
As Keven Mealamu prepared for this moment at Eden Park, the hairs on the back of the neck leapt to attention, the way the nation does when Graham Henry makes an announcement.
So how did our man cope? Well, Tony Johnson took it all in his stride.
It can't have been easy. There must have been a heck of a battle over this one, commentator against commentator competing for that Eden Park match between the Blues and Waratahs, because they'll be hauling this commentary out of the vaults for years to come.
TJ handled it superbly.
As Mealamu made his way on to the field in the 57th minute, Johnson produced just a slight raising of the voice, an intensifying of the intensity, to signify that this was a special moment. "The first of the All Blacks are back," he intoned, in the manner of a boxing commentator who has just witnessed a fighter leaving his dressing room.
As to whether Little Kevvy is bigger, faster, stronger - as the prospectus for All Black reconditioning camp promised - who would know. He did have a few wobbles in the old lineout throwing department. One has forgotten during the reconditioning window that this nation can be brought to its knees by debates about lineout throwing, and that to have a good lineout throwing debate, you need a few current All Blacks hurling the ball around like a paper dart.
Anyway, early days Kevvy. Don't panic. And there is bound to be an RAB amnesty period, although Henry hasn't told us yet when it ends.
Sticking to the replay viewing order, it was then off to Christchurch on Saturday night, where the man who had to follow in Tony Johnson's footsteps was ... drum roll ... Tony Johnson.
This was the first big shock of the weekend. I'd fully expected Nisbo to get this game with so many educated boots returning to the Crusaders lineup. What more can you say about Robbie Deans' Crusaders. They are a class act.
Here's the mystery, of sorts.
Okay. The Crusaders' RABs had a few early problems. Reuben Thorne's first tackle was a pat on the back, Aaron Mauger did a forward roll while Stormer De Wet Barry ran over the top of him, Leon MacDonald threw a forward pass, and Dan Carter missed a handy goal attempt.
But by the end of the match, it looked as though they'd hardly been away. The usual suspects are back. Normal transmission has resumed.
As Murray "Mex" Mexted put it so beautifully, "The big boys are back".
Yet the Hurricanes' RABs, who presumably had been on the same reconditioning programme, were full of their own agendas against the Lions. Piri Weepu began the match as if he'd forgotten how to pass the ball. It looked, for 80 scary minutes, as if Frank Oliver was still coaching them.
Back to Carisbrook. Here, it was clear that Grant "Nisbo" Nisbett had gone into the Highlanders v Bulls match determined not to mention the word reconditioned. Anton Oliver, who entered the fray at halftime, was simply introduced as "a significant name on the bench".
Anton was quite zippy, it must be said. He started with a lineout throw that looked like an audition for Dancing With The Stars, but never failed after that. Carl Hayman, however, was a no-show because of, and I quote, "a knock to the knee" as Nisbo put it.
Finally, it was across the Tasman, where Aussie commentators Marto and Kearnsy revelled in the reconditioning word while the Reds played the Chiefs. In a clear affront to Henry, however, they kept talking about Andrew Walker's muscle development, although they did suggest that Byron Kelleher was stocky. Sitiveni Sivivatu was hardly mentioned, and hardly sighted. Anyway, forget reconditioned All Blacks - the whole game should have been sent back to the manufacturer.
Here's where the weekend fell flat. Statistics.
In contrast, the build-up to the league season was enhanced by a story revealing everything you need to know from inside the players' various gymnasiums.
For instance, the Roosters' Chris Beattie was listed as the NRL's strongest man, after he bench pressed 180kg. For you prehistoric rugby nuts, this is the equivalent of bench pressing 2.4 Terry Wrights in the old money.
It was even reported that Manly's Kylie Leuluai, of Auckland origins, had performed three bench presses of 220kg - which translates into 2.93 Terry Wrights - prior to the 2006 season. I repeat - 2.93 Terry Wrights times three.
But wait. There was more, in the form of speed test results and skin fold assessments that would shake you to the core. People love this sort of stuff.
What we needed out of Camp All Blacks was BPPBs - Bench Press Personal Bests. It beats a knocked knee any day and would have given TJ, Nisbo and the crew a lot more to work with.