KEY POINTS:
Earlier this month, the All Blacks were one defeat away from a real crisis. Now they are one victory away from credibility and real achievement.
Just last month they looked one injury from mediocrity. Now, could it be, they are just one discovery from a potentially good All Black team? And possibly three discoveries from being a potentially great All Black team?
All year coach Graham Henry has asked for everyone to be patient, to give him time to rebuild a side that had been hugely successful for three years before so many headed for Europe after the World Cup.
It was a big ask. Goodwill for the coach was in short supply after the World Cup. He'd asked for patience in 2006 amid the worst excess of rotation and he got it. He asked for patience around the reconditioning programme in early 2007 and got it. He got what he wanted because he kept putting out winning sides.
When it all went wrong in Cardiff, though, the trust was broken. When the All Blacks lost in Dunedin and were then awful in Sydney he was at the point of no return. It was victory or bust. Henry was under the most intense pressure of his tenure at Eden Park.
It was backs-to-the-wall time. A night for heroes to emerge, a night when test futures were on the line.
Most of the usual suspects came through, as they did again in Cape Town. And it's the consistency of that core group of senior players that is giving this All Black side a gateway to a promising future.
Richie McCaw has, almost impossibly, shifted up another gear. It's not just what he brings to the collision that stabilises his side. It's his newfound authority. Where once he stood back from referees, he challenges them, makes his point and even managed to talk Matt Goddard out of making a critical blunder in Cape Town.
McCaw has found the confidence to lead in a manner so many felt he wasn't managing this time last year.
His coming of age has coincided with the maturation of Daniel Carter. Too much was made of Carter's ability in 2005. Back then he was good, brilliant even on one night. But now he's complete, a game-breaker who can mix his styles and bring out the best in Mils Muliaina at fullback.
Muliaina is another who looks as if he has said it's his time to deliver, to be the calm, elegant threat at the back. Tony Woodcock is finding an extra surge to his loose work that compliments his consistently excellent scrummaging and Ali Williams has become the sort of player around whom you can build a team.
Behind that undisputed world-class talent is a tier of good All Blacks - Rodney So'oialo, Andrew Hore, Keven Mealamu, Greg Somerville, Brad Thorn, Leon MacDonald, Conrad Smith and Ma'a Nonu.
That's a handy extended group of players; certainly enough to feel that, while the depth has been tested as a consequence of the exodus, there is still enough to get a competitive team on the track most weeks.
To get beyond competitive, to become the dominant side the All Blacks forever aspire to be, that core group needs some help.
Professional football is so fluid now new boys don't get long to prove their worth. We are halfway through the test season and the time has come for the coaches to start deciding about the potential of some of the younger, fringe players.
They should have seen enough now in training and on the field to have a feel for who can hack it and who should be let go.
Former All Black selector Peter Thorburn believes the coaching panel will be excited by the progress made by John Afoa.
"He's definitely developed," says Thorburn. "As a prop he should be able to do his core job, that's a given, and then you start to look for something else.
"He's very mobile, has a lot of power and skill. In that game in Dunedin, I think it was, Afoa made a great tackle, which is not his job but it wasn't as if he hadn't been doing his job. That's the kind of bonus you hope for as a coach."
The other two players Thorburn says have impressed, and are likely to be given an opportunity to further establish themselves on the end of year tour, are Anthony Boric and Adam Thomson.
"Boric is a definite goer. I think he could carry another 5kg-7kg without losing any of his mobility. Maybe some people look at him and see he is baby-faced and equate that with being soft.
"He's not and he's got stuck in when he's played. Thomson plays with a lot of enthusiasm. He's very quick, physical and almost tall enough to play lock if he had to.
"I think they will have seen enough in him to want him to keep exposing him to this level."
The All Blacks need these players to fulfil their potential. Somerville is off soon, Thorn can't keep going for much longer and there is an absence of bite on the blindside.
But just as there are some who have shown they are ready to play at this level, others have stepped backwards and are unlikely to be seen much more in the black shirt.
Into that category would go Sione Lauaki and Andy Ellis. The former has never looked a long-term bet. He's had explosive bursts and then extreme bouts of lethargy. His performance in Sydney was a sign he's just not ready to play test football.
Ellis, too, didn't take his opportunity. He lacked the dynamism and physical presence both Jimmy Cowan and Piri Weepu have provided in the last two tests. With Brendon Leonard likely to be back by the end of the year, there might not be room for Ellis in the tour party.
It's survival of the fittest and the All Blacks need the best to come through.
