KEY POINTS:
Piri Weepu might have come into this test match wearing what looked like roadkill on the top of his head but it was the other end of his body that was more noteworthy.
In a match that did little to stir the soul but did plenty to stir
up the conspiracy theorists, Weepu once again gave a vivid demonstration of his versatility by taking over the kicking from Dan Carter and nailing a tricky penalty and conversion.
Nick Evans entered the fray at halftime after Carter blew a fetlock early and took over the goalkicking duties but in two sweet strikes Weepu had done enough to suggest that he is up to the task at test level.
Quite apart from his crisp kicking Weepu was one of the game's dominant figures. With Carter and Richie McCaw struggling with niggles picked up early (did anybody mention that the primary aim of the French this tour might be to incapacitate New Zealand's best two players?) Weepu took on much of the responsibility for driving a rusty All Black machine around Eden Park.
Weepu gave way to Brendon Leonard with 17 minutes left. The Wakato halfback will never forget this test - thousands of others will.
There was the odd moment of passion, most notably five minutes before kickoff when Sebastien 'Seabass' Chabal planted a premeditated Zidane-like kiss on the noggin of Christian Califano. It was a beautiful moment.
So too was his hit on Masoe on the half hour. It can get messy when two wills collide but Chabal came out on top in this one. On a night like this the visitors will be thankful for small mercies.
Here's a starter for 10: What do Imanol Harinorduquy, Yannick Jauzion, David Marty, Cedric Heymans, Olivier Milloud, Elvis Vermeulen and Lionel Beauxis have in common? If you said they were France's point-scorers in their dramatic victory over Scotland that earned them the Six Nations, you'd be right. If you said they were all first-choice players absent from this tour you'd also be right.
In fact the only player from that day in New Zealand now is Raphael Ibanez. He will be able to testify to the drama of that afternoon in St Denis, when France needed a 23-point victory over the Scots to lift the silverware, saw that lead reduced to 20 with seconds remaining before sub Vermeulen scored his famous try. This is mentioned only because despite the fact the match was one-sided, it was test rugby at its best. Last night? You be the judge.
