48 Hours: McCaw up against 15 players and one ref

Test rugby raised the outdated rafters at Eden Park as Graham Henry's All Blacks displayed yet again what a magnificent heart beats within their squad.

The exhilaratingly and relentlessly brutal confrontation that test rugby has become, at its best, was there for all to see on Saturday evening, as was a standard of officiating that fell so far below par that it did not deserve to make the weekend cut.

What a fantastic test, despite the black spots.

The eternally frustrating aspect to rugby though is that it falls over itself to destroy matches through nit-picking by referees, yet it is often incapable of dealing with the blindingly obvious blights on the game.

In this case the complaints relate to two brutal and unpunished attacks on the All Black captain Richie McCaw, and the video awarding of a Rocky Elsom try that belonged in drama-comedy section.

In the aftermath of Saturday night's test, you can almost hear the British Lions' supporters, and many New Zealanders, beginning to find a renewed roar in their throat about the handling of the Brian O'Driscoll controversy in 2003, when the Lions alleged that Tana Umaga and Keven Mealamu dumped the touring captain in a spear tackle.

Yes, the rugby authorities let the game and the Lions down on that occasion by failing to get the incident to a judicial hearing. But in stark contrast to what happened at Eden Park on Saturday night, there was no brilliantly clear video evidence at the time, and thus Umaga and Mealamu did not deserve to be hounded by a public lynch mob.

Still, the latest spear tackle controversy has probably got a few of us thinking over the O'Driscoll situation again. Even if guilt did not deserve to be found, O'Driscoll's reaction and the issue of dangerous tackling needed more careful consideration and greater understanding than it generally received.

The rugby authorities probably feel they have dealt with a dreadful blot on Saturday night's match by citing Tuqiri.

But it has to be asked how on earth Phil Waugh was not called to appear with him, and how the pair were not even warned, let alone sent off or penalised, about highly visible incidents at the time.

Waugh's attack was just as obvious, maybe even more so, than Tuqiri's. As McCaw grappled with the Wallaby prop Greg Holmes, Waugh approached McCaw from behind and smashed him in the head with his forearm.

As cheap shots go, it would have struggled to make the $2 shop. In one foul swoop of the arm, Waugh conceded he was not remotely in his opposite's class, that his only hope was to rearrange McCaw's senses. This, if we are to believe referee Chris White and his crew, along with those responsible for making citings, is perfectly acceptable.

Yet Rodney So'oialo was penalised by White for a high tackle in which, at a pinch, his little finger may have scraped across a Wallaby chin. Huh?

The shame about Tuqiri's tackle, and especially his response, is that it will overshadow a brilliant performance from the Wallaby wing, the best in his position in world rugby.

He should have been able to walk off the park standing tall in gold, but instead he was swathed in yellow.

With the ball having already bounced away from McCaw's grasp, Tuqiri lifted one of McCaw's legs and then went on with the tackle, driving the defenceless player into the ground. This is an absolute no-no although some, but certainly not here, will defend Tuqiri on technical grounds, and find a loophole.

Yet when the spectators reacted, Tuqiri inflamed the situation with his gesticulations as McCaw tried to shake off what could have been a catastrophic injury.

McCaw is so clearly the outstanding forward in world rugby that he has become a target for skulduggery.

More often than not, freakish players of this type are backs and have a decent chance of avoiding the assassins. But McCaw is in the firing line, and puts himself there more than most.

It is only to be expected that opponents will try to tangle him up off the ball, and that is part and parcel of the game. McCaw will simply have to live with that.

Chief entangler on Saturday night was Rocky Elsom, an aptly named outcrop of another large and annoying Wallaby No 6 named Owen Finegan, although Finegan was of a far higher calibre.

Finegan could pull all his tricks with a sneering expertise but Elsom is continually fingered by the law and actually looks confused or bemused by his disruptive role, although not as bemused as everyone else when - after losing the ball - he was awarded a try by the video referee.

This Wallaby side are not firing on the classy cylinders of old, and are dragging themselves towards a style of game that betrays the glories fashioned by Mark and Glen Ella, David Campese, Stephen Larkham in his prime, and so on.

They do have heart though, because that is largely what is keeping them within fighting distance of an All Black side still delivering results despite a limited backline attack.

As for the joker in the pack, who would have picked that Ali Williams, yes Comical Ali, would become maybe the finest impact forward in the game.

The most heartening aspect of Saturday's game was that the All Black locks began to stand up to their full height. Maybe the presence of a true great in Robin Brooke during the preparation reminded Chris Jack and co of their obligations. It was the Jason Eaton-Ali Williams tag team which really stood out though.

Presumably All Black duties accounted for Williams' rare absence in the photographs on the Sunday newspaper social pages this week, but the television cameras still discovered him with a clowning expression on the All Black reserve bench.

His concentration span and bursts of energy have found a perfect fit as a fourth-quarter substitute, revealing a crunching edge not so apparent over 80 minutes.

Williams was the "Rocky" in the All Black camp, delivering a few legitimate and glorious knockout blows which helped to ensure the Wallabies did not get up from the floor.