In a golden second 20 minutes in the first half, the All Blacks scored 29 points. Japan had no answer to the speed and evasiveness of wing Mark Telea or the explosive strength of hooker Asafo Aumua.
But after halfback Cam Roigard made his try three minutes into the second spell look easy, the Jekyll-and-Hyde split personality of these All Blacks emerged.
Tackles were missed, and even more teeth-grindingly upsetting was the amount of ball handed to Japan by aimless kicks downfield.
With such a big lead at halftime, the second-half meltdown was always going to be frustrating, rather than the losing of the game.
But with real challenges ahead in England, Ireland and France, coach Scott Robertson and his brain trust will want to fix what’s become a persistent difficulty.
Maybe the problem is as simple as subbing on most of the bench at once. With the massive exception of South Africa’s forward-pack “bomb squad”, that’s rarely been a tactic that’s paid off in test rugby.
At Twickenham next week playing England, we’ll get a clear look at whether too many subs at a time is how Robertson sees the issue.
Man of the match
Wallace Sititi continued to display his remarkable talents, but Patrick Tuipulotu gave a display that encompassed the fearlessness, energy, skills and leadership that have marked great All Blacks captains through the years.
Only 21 when he made his test debut in 2014, Tuipulotu is a man with some golden years in the middle row still ahead of him.
With Tuipulotu’s formidable range of abilities back in full bloom this year, the huge advances made by Tupou Vaa’i and the grit of Scott Barrett, what had looked like a giant locking void left by the retirement of two legends, Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock, isn’t as daunting as it seemed at the start of the year.
How did the big, promising three go?
Having singled out Sititi, Roigard and Billy Proctor for special attention in a Herald match preview, it’s a pleasure to say they all lived up to expectations.
Sititi is a special player already and his international future, especially at No 8, could hardly look brighter.
Proctor had one awkward moment in the 66th minute when he ran out of line on defence and was easily eluded by the runner with the ball, but in the vast majority of the game, he was effective and accurate.
Roigard is on a steep climb back to match awareness, but there were plenty of signs he’s already close to again being the threat on attack that makes him such an exciting prospect.
The Franks effect
The most remarkable aspect of the game was how Japan’s forward pack were able to stay rock solid at scrum time.
This is an excellent All Blacks scrum, but if there was ever a neon sign announcing a man’s coaching skills, it was how 108-test All Blacks prop Owen Franks had drilled the Japanese forwards so well, they didn’t concede an inch at the scrums until late in the second half.
The eternal No 10 question
We won’t know until the New Zealand side to play England are announced later in the week whether Damian McKenzie was in the last-chance saloon in Yokohama, or being kept match-sharp to start at first five-eighths at Twickenham.
Against Japan, McKenzie had a mixed afternoon. It’s probably no coincidence that when he was firing at his best, the All Blacks were running riot, and his less dynamic second-half spell was when New Zealand got bogged down.
On that basis, the odds of Beauden Barrett wearing the No 10 jersey against England have probably shortened.
Looming over the discussion, of course, is whether we’ll see Richie Mo’unga, who steered Scott Robertson’s Crusaders to all those Super Rugby titles, back in New Zealand. The discussions amongst fans then could be as heated as the Andrew Mehrtens-Carlos Spencer debate from 20 years ago.
Save the NPC
It was sod’s law that the magnificent NPC final, won 23-20 in extra time by Wellington over Bay of Plenty, would (a) be played in the huge Sky stadium and (b) that the weather on Saturday afternoon in Wellington included pelting rain and fierce winds. The result on television was that the crowd looked small for the occasion.
But the rugby itself was outstanding and a reminder that somehow the new guard at New Zealand Rugby need to make sure that the future of the game here does include provincial teams, local loyalty and development outside the main centres.
Men of the final
Every player involved stood up, but a special word for Wellington’s Brad Shields, at 33 still playing with the fervour of a teenager, and Bay of Plenty’s Naitoa Ah Khoi, who showed you don’t have to actually be an All Black to play like one.
