Well done to the men in Black (both matches that is). The most experienced New Zealand side in All Black history, dating back to 1903, with an average age over 29 with 51 caps per player, defeated the young upstarts from across the ditch; who may have left their run for this year’s World Cup a little late. The choice by Graham Henry to go with the seasoned campaigners, like Brad Thorn (36), Kevin Mealamu (32), Mils Muliaina (31), Ali Williams (30) and others such as Sitiveni Sivivatu (29) and Piri Weepu (27),that are almost past their use-by dates, proved the goods on the day. On the other side of the world another ‘All Black’ outfit, namely the English Rugby Union team, wheeled out 2003 World Cup winning hero, Jonny Wilkinson (32), at Twickenham to boot England to a 23-19 win over Wales (2 tries to 3) in front of 80,942 supporters in a ‘friendly’.

However, Robbie Deans has put faith in his young charges, which they will be all the better for, as it is hard to see Richie McCaw (30) & his veterans getting any better. There is also the belief that winning this match may not prove as important for Australia. New Zealand’s Dominion Post wrote yesterday,

"It was yet another superb performance from Graham Henry's men and it's difficult to know what else needs to be improved on before the World Cup, so good was the performance.

"The All Blacks had more to lose in the game. A Wallabies defeat could be comfortably brushed off as this is still a young Australia side that's developing and they also have a number of key players to come back in time for the World Cup."

Key players to return such as: Berrick Barnes, Drew Mitchell, Tatafu Polota-Nao and Wycliff Palu. As well as experienced options Deans could have used, namely Nathan Sharpe and Radike Samo -who are already on the plane to Durban; and don’t forget Wycliff Palu, Matt Giteau, Berrick Barnes & Drew Mitchell are still in the mix come the World Cup, starting in 5 weeks. Having players like Barnes and Giteau still in the wings must be comforting for Deans -not so for Pat McCabe though. Robbie Deans has persevered with his captain Rocky Elsom, whilst he has Scott Higginbotham biting at his heels. McCalman must certainly be feeling the heat after his ordinary performance on the weekend that was surely over shadowed when Higginbotham came on.

Taking nothing away from the Kiwis polished demolition of the Wallabies (3 tries to 2) despite the latter having greater possession. Defence was the All Black’s weapon of mass destruction. Their defensive umbrella restricted Quade Coopers ability to manoeuvre, which begs the question if there was a playmaker like Giteau (or even Barnes) at inside-centre to relieve some pressure a better result could have been achieved. Kurtley Beale, Will Genia and Digby Ioane were outstanding, showing that options were available when Cooper became flustered. Against any other side they would have scored at least three more tries that the ABs thwarted and James O’Conner’s kicking (0-3) did not help, with Carter tallying 14-points from his boot (3 cons, 2 pens, 1 dg 100% keeping him well ahead of Wilkinson who has another chance this weekend in the return match at Millenium Stadium, Cardiff).

This emerging Wallaby outfit is not done yet, by any margin. They fly off to South Africa for next week’s match against a Springbok outfit that desperately need to get out of the starting blocks in their run to retain the Webb-Ellis Trophy. The ABs will rest Dan Carter for their match in the Republic the following weekend ahead of the final clash in Brisbane on August 27th which will be the last word before the World Cup begins. Player management seems to be the key, the Queensland Reds have the Super 15 trophy and the New Zealand retains the Bledisloe Cup, but as a Kiwi friend said to me Saturday, “There is only one Cup that counts in a World Cup year!”