Paul Thomas: Fijian quality makes gung-ho extrapolation risky

All Black forward play was once a byword for the ruthless application of lethal force. The French used to say that New Zealanders wore black because they were in mourning for their opponents.

But ever since the break up of the great All Black forward pack of the mid-1990s (most of whom, unpalatable as it may be to the heartland, were gelled, studiously groomed Aucklanders who knew the difference between a latte and a macchiato), we've had to put up with British rugby pundits telling us our forward play has gone to the dogs.

They say we've turned our back on our hard-nosed heritage. They say we've been seduced by the fun for all the family sporting candy-floss that is Super 12.

Not to put too fine a point on it, they say we've gone soft.

So the main interest in tonight's test against Fiji was in the performance of the All Black forwards. Would they build on their wrecking-ball performance against France last November?

Can we look forward to the series against the Lions in the confident expectation that seven years of condescension will be shoved down the collective gullet of the British media or should we be steeling ourselves for a braying chorus of "we told you so"?

Unfortunately it's in the nature of routs that praise for the victors is buried under an avalanche of scorn for the losers. The All Blacks dismantled the Fijian pack 91-0 but question marks over the Islanders' quality makes gung-ho extrapolation risky.

Besides, the Fijians have never had much interest in the grunt and grind. Rather than slug it out in the trenches, they like to get their big mitts on the ball and head for the wide open spaces like runaway horses. The latest solution to their perennial scrummaging deficiencies is to select a tighthead prop the size of an inner-city apartment and defy the opposition to shift him.

Well, shift him they did; almost into another postal code.

There will be more tea leaves to read in Hamilton on Saturday night. The Lions are fielding one of the biggest forward packs ever assembled, presumably with the aim of crushing the Maori up front and reopening what they perceive to be the technical and psychological fault-line in our rugby.

But if the Maori pack can hold firm, that strategy could rebound.

The countdown has begun. The phoney war is almost over.