KEY POINTS:
It's credit where credit is due time. Graham Henry's All Blacks deserve the plaudits currently being rained upon them.
This was written before this morning's Grand Slam-completing test against England so is still open
to correction. But it will be a surprise if England get anywhere near ambushing
this team who have proved they have now grown the hard mental shell and the steel spine needed to win after being put under pressure of the most searching kind.
And let's not forget - this was by no means a top All Black squad; not with about 30-40 All Blacks or Super 14 players now plying their trade in Britain or France and thus ineligible for selection.
There was the hint of a third XV about this team when it was chosen and no hint at all of it developing the character it has shown.
Which means it is time for some mean-spirited, waspish and downright ornery scribes to eat a bit of crow.
Stand up, Stephen Jones of the Sunday Times, the perennial Kiwi-baiter who said, upon hearing of the All Blacks' selection, that a large number would not merit selection in a Premiership squad.
Cue laughing and coughing and a dash of unmitigated scorn. One thing that has become evident on this tour is that Northern Hemisphere rugby standards have slipped or, more correctly, have not improved.
In every match on this tour - with the exception of some moments by Munster and Wales - passing, catching and running skills of Northern Hemisphere players are not even close to the level of the south.
What cannot be masked is the consistent failure of Northern Hemisphere sides to score a try of any decent level of craft, invention and colour; because the basic skills with which to do so are simply not there.
They are decent gatherers of possession and recyclers of same, retaining the ball well. Until, that is, they fall behind and are forced to try to "play" to catch up.
It is there that you see the stains on the underpants. They can't do it. Their forwards are still big, ball-grabbing lunks who can't handle
the multi-tasking requirements of running with the ball, passing it and backing up.
So the truth is that the boot is firmly upon the other foot. Name,
out of all the opposing test players encountered on the northern tour so far, those who would clearly win selection in a Super 14 franchise. Hard, isn't it?
For what it's worth, here's a list (minus England players) of those who (judged on the form displayed against the All Blacks) would merit selection in the Super 14: Fullback Chris Paterson, halfback Mike Blair, hooker Ross Ford (all Scotland); midfielder Luke Fitzgerald, flanker Alan Quinlan, lock Paul O'Connell (all Ireland and the latter mostly because we're a bit short on quality locks again); and flanker Martyn Williams, halfback Gareth Cooper (but only because we are short on scrumhalves), first five Stephen Jones (but only on his first-half display), fullback Lee Byrne and winger Shane Williams (all Wales).
It isn't much of an honours list and the sharp-eyed will note that Ireland's Brian O'Driscoll isn't there although there is obviously a case for class over form with him. Others will note that there aren't many from the tight phases in that list - the place where the Brits are supposed to lord it over us.
They can push and grunt but they can't run and pass and that, for all of the bluster the northerners promulgate about their deep attachment to the traditions of the game, is the way rugby is played these days.
The ELVs also made a difference - the All Blacks were noticeably faster of foot and thought than the opposition; perhaps proof that the ELVs do actually speed the game up. The northerners seemed to flounder at times in keeping up and no team produced a compelling second-half display against Henry's All Blacks.
There is another scribe microwaving his slice of humble pie right now. That'd be me. I chastised Henry for the vast rotation between the Scots and Irish tests and said it seemed like an "I was right" crusade after the crippling errors made before the World Cup last year.
But, of course, he has played essentially the same team since then and Ali Williams has played all 15 this year and with a foot injury for many of them.
However, the development that has characterised this team has come because, I insist, the All Blacks did not rotate and because they have given the players involved the chance to combine, to meld and to instil that innate sense of understanding that marks a good team.
Look at the progress of players like Keven Mealamu, the colossus that now is Brad Thorn, Jerome Kaino, Piri Weepu, Isaia Toeava, Ma'a Nonu and Joe Rokocoko. Then look at the new guys who have come on well - Jamie Mackintosh, Richard Kahui, Kieran Read, Liam Messam and Cory Jane.
Henry has won not just a grand slam - England doing the expected - but a solid base of 26-27 players out of the 35 who can form the core of the side that goes through to the 2011 World Cup.
That is some achievement, given the pillaged state of New Zealand rugby right now. If Henry wants the 2011 job, it is probably his for the taking as all other logical options have gone overseas.
But, after this tour, he deserves it.
