KEY POINTS:
There was a lot of talk about last night's semifinal serving as an All Black trial of sorts.
That's true in the sense that the intensity and pressure of the occasion were much closer to test football than games played in the round robin.
But last night wasn't a trial in the sense that the selectors came in with no idea and left with firm opinions on various individuals.
Graham Henry, Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith are in their fifth year with the All Blacks. They have detailed knowledge about most players in contention and would have had the bulk of their squad clear in their own minds before the semifinal.
What last night provided was reassurance about some players and maybe a little doubt about others.
When you come down to it, there are only a few positions of uncertainty. One of those is lock, where there was a big opportunity for Jason Eaton to push his cause playing against the two men - Ali Williams and Brad Thorn - who have been the best combination all season.
Eaton has the frame and athleticism and has some experience but hasn't come back from injury as well as he would have liked.
The jury is still out on him and, while he will be the third lock, he did nothing last night to earn a starting jersey ahead of the Crusaders duo.
One of the other areas of intrigue was the loose forwards, where we can be certain that Richie McCaw, Jerry Collins and Rodney So'oialo will be the preferred starting trio.
I feel Chris Masoe is a good player in all three positions but is not a specialist and for that reason could miss out. And the man he could miss out to is Kieran Read, who has shown he is one of those players who fronts up and plays consistently well each week.
What Read needed to show last night was the ability to step up another level and deliver against the best.
That's exactly what he did and he must surely be in the mix. For the first 70 minutes before he was subbed for Reuben Thorne he fronted up and was well rewarded with a try.
The other key battleground was in the midfield, an area which is probably the most open.
Ma'a Nonu would have been closely watched but it wasn't a memorable game for him last night. He should definitely make the squad because of the impact he can provide off the bench but he didn't do enough in my mind to grab a starting spot.
Conrad Smith came into the game with some ground to make up on Anthony Tuitavake and that remains the case.
Obviously Smith's individual performance will have been under scrutiny but so too will his combination work with Nonu. It didn't gel as well as the one Casey Laulala had with his outsides but neither did enough to get the nod ahead of Tuitavake.
