KEY POINTS:
After spending the end of last year and most of this debating the All Blacks rotation policy, we have another term now: Best fit.
The best fit or the best mix of players to face France have been chosen this week but that did not mean, said coach Graham Henry, they would also file out against Wales in the final test of the tour.
This is a slight change of tack from the opening tour statements where the idea was to find the best 22 players from the England and first French test and play them for the final two internationals.
Selectors' prerogative? You betcha. No problem with that. Why show the opposition your entire hand when you have them under the cosh already?
Any team that stands still or does not adjust will suffer.
The staff like to use the example of Leon MacDonald, who was forced to play centre at the last World Cup when Tana Umaga damaged a knee.
There was not enough trust in any of the alternatives - Ma'a Nonu, Caleb Ralph or Ben Atiga - so Mils Muliaina was pushed to fullback and MacDonald swapped to centre. He was adequate but lacked matchplay to be entirely comfortable in the role.
Strangely, the roles look as though they are in reverse moving towards the next World Cup, with Muliaina firming as centre when MacDonald is wanted at fullback.
All sorts of choices have been tried in most positions, though the understudies to Daniel Carter and Richie McCaw have not been hugely visible.
While the selectors' minds have been trained on not repeating mistakes from the 2003 World Cup, they will also carry a message from the 1999 tournament. There was a feeling in the week before the semifinal against France that some defensive aspects were taken for granted, at fatal cost.
The work ethic of Henry, Wayne Smith, Steve Hansen and the backup staff - is phenomenal. Their appetite for information, improvement and progress is unstinting.
So you can excuse them for fudging some of their public utterances. After France fell by more than 40 points the top 22 became the best 22 for the occasion.
Nonu, we were told in the first week, was the form player on the wing in the national championship but the All Blacks also like him at centre. Yesterday he had moved even closer to the scrum at second five-eighths. It is either an experiment or a snub for Aaron Mauger and Luke McAlister?
No, protest the coaches. Squad members were selfless about personal ambition getting in the way of team targets.
Mauger reacted by doing extra training - but that did not quite explain Piri Weepu's despondent mood when he was chopped.
Then we heard Mauger played against England with a slight injury, although staff have said that would not occur.
Ah well, we are in France and c'est la vie.
