Henry & co have done the right thing in keeping Colin Slade on board after a less than convincing display in South Africa. Slade is still coming back to rugby and looked surprised by the intensity, pace and pressure of the test. He has the basic tools and he will adapt to the environment.
Even if he doesn't, there was the cheering option of Piri Weepu playing at first five-eighths in a test against the old foe - and doing very well. A cool head, vision and a smart kicking game; he'll do if the going gets tough.
But where is Sitiveni Sivivatu and/or Hosea Gear? There are always tragic misses when it comes to World Cup and, indeed, any touring side. But when did All Black rugby turn its face against out-and-out wingers?
It's true defences have tightened to the extent that they dominate tournaments like the World Cup. Likewise the helter-skelter stuff that the All Blacks played in Port Elizabeth will not be the style they use, necessarily, during the Cup. Henry & co have been experimenting with different games for different foes and have to be congratulated for that. There is also a lot to be said for keeping one's powder dry.
But can the All Blacks really afford five fullbacks?
All right, Jane, Guildford and the massive talent that is Dagg can make more than a passable fist of wing play. There is no question that all five are superb link men, support runners and run intelligent lines. They are precisely what is needed for a game plan which includes a solid defence, making the most of the ball that is kicked to them and being quick on the counter.
But they are all such similar players that you wonder if the All Black selectors have not erred in placing too many eggs in the "intelligent" basket. Sometimes, you just need the sheer grunt, power and intuitive ability to beat a man. Sivivatu and Gear have that in abundance and one or both of them were unlucky to miss the squad - with some fans unconvinced about Toeava and Guildford.
The latter has blazing pace and a knack for looking for work in the right areas. But will that be enough in the intensity and defence-ridden environment of the World Cup?
Sivivatu and Gear have tricks up their sleeve. Both, but particularly Sivivatu, are skilled at beating opponents close in. They are unpredictable - exactly what is needed to gain an edge in today's prescribed rugby.
They can counter-attack with physical intent and elusiveness and are a great worry to defences close to the line. Even if, as seems likely, the All Blacks play a far more World Cup-oriented style (possession, position, pressure and penalties), the ability to conjure up five points from not much at all is still priceless.
Both Gear, in particular, and Sivivatu have also suffered from coming back from injury and not playing much rugby in recent times. But, as has happened before with this selection panel, there seems to be one law for some and not for others. Tony Woodcock, Anthony Boric, Slade, Toeava and Kahui all got the big tick in spite of not much recent game time. Why not Sivivatu and/or Gear?
SIVIVATU EARNED some bad publicity earlier this year when it became evident he was to be left out of the preliminary All Black squad because he had disappointed the selectors with his fitness, attitude and work rate. He responded with a virtuoso performance against Fiji.
He remains a rare talent. In 45 tests, he has scored 29 tries. He stands ninth equal (with Dan Carter) on the All Blacks' all-time tryscoring records in tests. More tellingly, he rates fifth in the percentage of tries scored per tests. Sivivatu has scored in 64 per cent of the tests he played in; more than Jonah Lomu and John Kirwan (on a strike rate basis) - and bested only by Joe Rokocoko (68 per cent), Jeff Wilson (73 per cent), Christian Cullen and Doug Howlett (both of whom scored tries in 79 per cent of the tests they played; a phenomenal record). Of those, only Rokocoko has played wholly in an era where defences became far more influential.
When Sivivatu was omitted from that early squad, I wrote a column which said: "The gossip is that Sivivatu will be the big casualty today. The word is that the selectors have been disappointed with his response to their directions; and that he turned up this season overweight and under-done.
But Sivivatu remains one of the few backs in New Zealand capable of the unexpected; able to rip large, jagged holes in today's disciplined defences. If he is absent, it increases the pressure on the only other backs capable of doing it - Carter, Sonny Bill Williams, Hosea Gear and Ma'a Nonu, and three of those four have done so only fitfully recently.
"Surely Sivivatu is a coaching job. Get the kilos off him and play him constantly to get his confidence and his game-breaking facilities honed. Some, including the selectors, will say it's less about individual flair and more about possession and the way it is used; support play and being accurate - and fair enough. Maybe he too will be selected later in the piece after getting the rocket of omission. Why not include a proven point of difference if all you have to do is coach him back to his best? This is about the World Cup; not who follows orders best."
Sivivatu indeed came back against Fiji and maybe that fractured eye socket did him more harm than anything else. Maybe, too, players like Jane - an entirely different talent whose freakish ability to beat the first tackler and to make the right decisions in all phases - and Dagg (who possesses Cullen-like qualities) will be enough to do the business.
Maybe, too, Isaia Toeava will confirm the promise he has always shown - and which has been detected by the selectors even though others made more cynical assessments.
He is lucky to be in this squad ahead of Sivivatu and he sometimes struggles to convince as an out-and-out winger; with many figuring his best position as fullback or centre. Case in point: his wiggle-in; wiggle-out; wiggle-in run straight into the defender run at the line against the Boks last weekend - which ended with no score. Toeava's wing play will improve with time, sure, but it was hard to escape the feeling that try would have been scored if Sivivatu had been playing.
That sort of finishing - or at the very least making room for someone else to score - is what still sets real wingers apart. All Black sides have always had power wingers with tricks in their feet and the ability to win a match on their own. In past World Cups, there has been the likes of Rokocoko, Sivivatu, Lomu and Kirwan.
You have to go back to 1996 to find an All Black side that triumphed in a major test series without a 'power' winger on board (that being the first time the All Blacks won a series in the Republic, playing Wilson and Glen Osborne on the wings). In other times, without such wingers, the results were less palatable (though it is drawing a long bow to suggest it was all down to that).
In 2005, against South Africa, with Rico Gear and Muliaina on the wings, they lost 22-16. In 2002, with Howlett and Caleb Ralph, they lost 16-14 to Australia. In 2000, with Howlett and Bruce Reihana, they lost 42-33 to France.
Again, Henry & co have done so well in this build-up that you hope fervently they have not got this wrong. The 2007 tournament was lost at least partly because the All Blacks didn't have anyone who could drop a goal.
It would be a cruel irony if 2011 was scarred by not having anyone out wide who could score a pressure try.
