View photosKEY POINTS:
It could have been 80 points rather than 60 if the All Blacks had managed to keep the mistakes level down, but maybe I'm being a bit picky.
Certainly the French weren't up to much last night. They looked very much like France C this week and they
were left with few options and a sinking spirit after the All Blacks got their act together far better than the previous week.
They were a much better collective, the All Blacks.
They worked together much better, they did the basics well, they drove well, they hit the rucks and mauls with meaning and their body positions were much improved.
The French had nowhere to go, few options when they had the ball and no answer to the All Blacks when they attacked. They looked like a team that knew most of them were filling gaps and that few of them would be featuring in the World Cup later this year.
In fact, I'd guess that no more than two of them - No 8 Sebastien Chabal and hooker Sebastien Bruno - will feature in their 30-man squad for the Cup, although maybe winger Julien Laharrague could force his way in.
But I'd say that'd be it, so maybe we shouldn't get too carried away. Having said that, I thought it was great to see Chris Jack having such a good game and Joe Rokocoko really starting to crack on with it.
All three locks performed well - Troy Flavell carried the ball up well and looked very physical on attack - and he and Jack wouldn't have prepared with their usual intensity as they would not have been expecting much of a run. Jerry Collins was impressive and Rodney So'oialo showed what good control at the scrum can do for his halfback - and Byron Kelleher had a good game, partly as a result. But I don't think he would have scored his try against the Boks or maybe the Aussies.
Leon MacDonald started to look somewhere near where he should be although this was the sort of game where, if you didn't show out, you'd be history.
Nick Evans slotted in well, Sitiveni Sivivatu was dangerous but, like most of the All Blacks, he made handling errors and mistakes that were caused by pushing passes.
That was a factor of the type of opposition they were facing and trying to complete moves when, had they been facing the South Africans or the Australians, they might have been more patient.
The All Blacks will now want to knock some of those errors on the head now. The handling errors and the goalkicking misses - they can cost you games against the big boys.
A good effort, a record win - but we are still waiting for decent opposition and a definitive performance, aren't we? But at least Graham Henry can be pleased that it is all heading in the right direction.
