KEY POINTS:
The reconditioned All Blacks were supposed to hit full throttle at the business end of the Super 14.
That part of the series is just one match away and the bulk of the protected squad of 22 have scarcely got out of neutral. Too many look as though they are chugging along and cannot change gear.
In three weeks, the day after the Super 14 final, the All Black selectors will announce an initial test squad which they say will closely resemble the group for the World Cup.
One reconditioned choice who will miss the Cup is Hurricanes lock Jason Eaton, who needs surgery after he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
Prop Greg Somerville will also battle to convince the panel that he is in top shape after his second achilles tendon operation.
Injury and selection neglect have curtailed the impact of Mils Muliaina, Joe Rokocoko, Chris Jack, Ali Williams and Byron Kelleher. Fellow halfback Piri Weepu played five-eighths for a number of games.
Not a worry, good for Weepu's broader understanding of the game, was the selectors' response. That feedback and the decision to remove a large group from half the Super 14 series suggested they would get favoured selection treatment.
Withdrawing the players subconsciously told them results and their subsequent form was not critical.
Since their return in round eight, the protected All Blacks seem to have found it hard to lift their quality.
Skipper Richie McCaw summed up the predicament when he said the Crusaders should have been desperate against the Brumbies at the weekend but were unable to claim that fervour.
The All Black protection tactic may have ceded some valuable momentum to the Boks in this pivotal season.
Throw the names of the Cotton Wool Club about and it is hard to settle on many who have been too sharp.
They have had their moments but so they should after five or six games. They have had time to get back into the groove but efforts have been patchy. Carl Hayman and Anton Oliver have scrummed up strongly, Rodney So'oialo has been a workaholic but even superstars McCaw and Daniel Carter have been subdued.
They have the class to lift but will that occur against the Chiefs, will they get the freedom to change tempo?
The Brumbies shut the Crusaders down and the Bulls pulverised the Blues.
It was not long ago there was widespread agreement that the Crusaders and Blues would slug it out in the final and although that could still happen it will need some form reversal and the assistance of a favourable draw.
