Wynne Gray: A final flourish for which great teams yearn

In nailing a performance in Marseille any side would envy, the All Blacks showed how rugby can still be played under the contentious laws, if attitude, skills and ambition are all aligned.

Attitude which refused to yield a try to the Six Nations foes on this tour, skills which brought rousing interplay between the pack and the backline, ambition which meant they played with their heads up, saw the space and backed themselves.

It was some sort of rugby renaissance and a slap for those who claim the laws have strangled the game.

This has not been one of the great seasons of All Black rugby, but yesterday's match was a finale to rank up with the best, the sort of climax many other successful teams yearned for to end their tours to Europe.

For 168 days the All Blacks ploughed through their programme. For much of the 2009 schedule it was tough going.

They started without their injured talismanic twins Richie McCaw and Daniel Carter, lost to France at Carisbrook and battled with their skills, style and gameplan.

Results and calibre fluctuated but yesterday the All Blacks ended their test year with a flourish as they demolished the French and gained some revenge for that Dunedin defeat way back in June.

McCaw was once more a dynamo, leading his troops and demanding they keep their grip on the game until referee Alain Rolland blew time. The flanker's influence on this game and others during the year brought his personal reward as the international player of the year.

Key lieutenants yesterday and for the bulk of this season were Brad Thorn, the lock who continued to defy Father Time, gnarly hooker Andrew Hore and the clever strategist in midfield Conrad Smith.

Carter was in the right zone again, Cory Jane underlined reasons for his selection, Tony Woodcock rampaged about, Sitiveni Sivivatu had a scorcher too but his form, like others in the side, has not been as strongly consistent as the leading quartet.

Just twice this season, the All Blacks managed to slip the chain. Once against a poor Wallaby team in Wellington where they cantered away to a 33-6 victory and yesterday at Stade Velodrome in the south of France.

The French fancied their chances of adding another All Black scalp to the one they claimed in 2000 when the side was under the overall control of current assistant Wayne Smith.

France lost their slim lead after seven minutes when Sivivatu embarrassed their defence, regained it at the end of the first quarter with another Dupuy penalty but then slowly succumbed to the All Black power, thrust, organisation, enterprise and ambition.

Ma'a Nonu began to charge in the damaging mode he brought to the game last season, the pack drilled the second phase ball, Jimmy Cowan massaged the options wisely and there was cut and thrust across the park.

Fullback Mils Muliaina rediscovered the mojo which had gone quiet on him this year, Tom Donnelly just kept working to reveal a side to his play which has not always been evident and Neemia Tialata, like the side, ended the tour with a wallop after his simpering start in June in Dunedin.

It was a resounding response from a side which has battled to impose themselves this season.

Only five of the All Blacks who last started in Marseille - two years ago in the World Cup against Italy - returned yesterday. Those survivors were Muliaina, Sivivatu, Carter, McCaw and Tony Woodcock.

It has been an arduous five months in the international glare and time for the All Blacks to rest.

But not before they make a mental note about the way they attacked the test in Marseille, how they dealt with the troublesome laws, how they decided the rhythm of the match and how they can repeat that next season.