All Blacks put in the complete performance 

Daniel Carter clears a kick as Dwayne Peel tries a block. Picture / Fotopress

All Blacks 21 Lions 3

It's always been a fine line between genius and lunacy, as Sir Clive Woodward will now fully appreciate.

And if he doesn't quite know how to fall on the right side of that line, he should go and ask Graham Henry, for the All Black coach clearly knows the way.

This was as complete an All Black performance as their last test outing in Paris.

Just the ticket to warm the cockles of every New Zealander's heart, in fact. There was cohesion in everything they did, precision, pace and brutality, too.

The Lions came to scrum and bludgeon their way to a test series victory.

Their forwards, we were told would be a fearsome unit, nasty, thuggish sorts, who would deal with an All Black pack burdened by one too many piano shifters prone to the odd tickle of the ivories.

The delusional aspects of that thinking were exposed before half-time. The Lions lineout had disintegrated and their scrum was retreating faster than Italian soldiers.

The All Blacks were just as commanding at the breakdown, where Richie McCaw was his usual, imperious self, ably supported by a turbo-charged Rodney So'oialo.

And then there were the All Black backs. They were operating on a different planet to their Lions counterparts.

Mind you, that should have been no surprise as the Lions backs have certainly looked like aliens for most of this tour alien to each other and alien to rugby itself.

If they were really the best prepared Lions test team of all time, future tourists would be well advised to bring just 30 players and meet in the pub the night before the game.

Obviously the Lions were disrupted by the early loss of captain Brian O'Driscoll, whose tour was effectively over after his dislocated shoulder injury after just two minutes.

But still, they were dreaming if they thought they could ever trouble the All Blacks with last night's assembled journeymen.

The gulf in class was best demonstrated early in the second half, when Aaron Mauger brushed off Jonny Wilkinson's girl-power tackle and popped to Tana Umaga.

The skipper didn't break stride before flinging an inch-perfect 25-metre pass to the flying Sitiveni Sivivatu, who was able to step past Josh Lewsey for a brilliant score.

The Lions probably wouldn't have been passed had they made a safe catch at first receiver.

But the strange thing is, Sir Clive always knew how this game was going to be played.

He's always known that quick ball is the opiate this All Black side gets its thrills from.

His thinking has always been deny a junkie a fix and they start to do desperate things.

Hes always believed, privately at least, that the All Blacks were prone to what he calls incorrect action under pressure.

Winning, as he is so fond of saying, is about inches.

Maybe if his pack had gained just a few more here and there, or if some tackles had been made fractionally earlier and with just a bit more venom, he would be reading about his genius this morning.

Instead, an already angry Welsh press corp, will be banging on about the lunacy of not playing Gavin Henson, Martyn and Shane Williams - and not having Ryan Jones on from the start.

Tactically, Woodward's side cannot be faulted. They played to grind out a win - an entirely sensible strategy, given their chronic lack of flair and ability out wide.

It was made even more appropriate by the arrival of a quite horrendously nasty Southerly that whipped through Jade Stadium. spreading the twin delights of icy rain and hail.

It does offend the sensibilities of most rugby-loving Kiwis that the Lions play a style of football that makes going to the dentist seem an altogether more uplifting experience, but there is no obligation to entertain in the test arena.

The only requirement is to win. That is why the Lions drove from clean lineout takes and kept the ball within a 10-metre radius of the breakdown.

It's just that the All Blacks were so powerful in defending the fringes, the Lions couldn't gain those vital inches.

What is unbelievably difficult to fathom is why Woodward picked the side he did last night.

The Lions didn't have the scrummaging power they were banking on. Gethin Jenkins is a supremely mobile prop, the kind of player who would do brilliantly in a New Zealand Super 12 side - but not the sort who could put serious pressure on Carl Hayman.

Surely Andy Sheridan, the whispering ogre who had Hayman in a bit of bother earlier in the tour, has to start next week? And Steve Thompson's none-too-delicate frame needs to slip into the front row alongside Sheridan next week if they are to succeed up front.

The Lions are playing a power game, so they need to select their power players. Neil Back did some good work at the breakdown, mainly slowing opposition ball. A bigger back row would also help provide greater protection for a midfield unit that always looked defensively frail.

Wilkinson was opting out of tackling when he played Wellington.

Sir Clive obviously thought it was about preservation. Turns out it wasn't. The physical toll on Wilkinson has been huge and he doesn't have the confidence to launch himself at people any more.

He still offers a huge amount and is worthy of a place.

Playing him at second-five wasn't as daft an idea as was being made out beforehand. Wilkinson has played test football there before and Daniel Carter has shown how the two can be effortlessly transposed.

Sir Clive won't be happy about the result, but there are a couple of personnel options up his sleeve that could get him a result in Wellington.

All Blacks: A. Williams, S. Sivivatu tries; D. Carter con, 3 pens

Lions: J. Wilkinson 1 pen