All Blacks: Rugby World Cup progress report

Two games down, three to go for the All Blacks before Rugby World Cup 2015. Chris Rattue tracks the winners and losers from the victory over Argentina.

Winners: SBW fans can celebrate. The big man is back. He went on a mid-game rampage against the poor Argies, who fielded a little backline that looked like a left over from the 1970s. SBW produced big hits, sharp passes, one memorable over-the-top offload and an extraordinary low pickup which kept a try move flowing. And if the Aussies want to mark him with teeny-weeny Matt Giteau, all the better. Settle down...Ma'a Nonu is the incumbent and still deserves to start, and he's also fully capable of making mincemeat of Giteau-types. Back to SBW. New Zealand's greatest boxer in living memory (that's a joke) must be on the bench. Tony Woodcock gave a reminder of his scrum prowess (and jumps into our starting XV at the expense of Wyatt Crockett).

Last week's progress report

Falling stocks: Or falling lock. Jeremy Thrush. He was on the slide anyway, but that second lineout/rolling maul try to the Pumas swept him away for good.

The fullback debate: Gets a sudden makeover with poor Waisake Naholo out of the World Cup and Israel Dagg showing spark. Right wing is there for someone to grab and all things considered, our favoured fullback Ben Smith might now be the official front runner given that Steve Hansen and mates have a thing for Dagg.

The hooker debate: Up goes Codie Taylor, down goes the slightly injured Hika Elliot. Just saying.

The big plus from Christchurch: There are a few candidates but that scrum was impressive. There aren't always a lot of scrums these days, but the ones they do have tend to linger meaning they are energy-sapping beasts. The importance of scrum mastery can't be discounted. A power scrum holds psychological advantages, especially against teams like England and France. And even the slight twist or turn can manipulate opponents away from their intended tactics. Tighthead Owen Franks looks in the mood, which is great news. Another plus: resurgent lock Luke Romano put fellow Crusader Sam Whitelock on notice, and the aerial king needs a bit of a spur.

The big negative from Christchurch: World Cups are a ruthless business and the whole rugby world saw how the All Blacks' defensive lineouts collapsed like a brolly on a typical Wellington day. Their double failure was like a gold embossed invitation to the muscle men of the best packs. Come on through guys. It was actually a bit of a shock to see the All Blacks performing so disastrously in any department. The pack faces a hammering in this area - Sunday in Johannesburg can't come soon enough for Richie McCaw and co. to make an aggressive statement about this to the other Webb Ellis Cup contenders.

Our top starting side:
If the All Blacks played Argentina in the World Cup opener tomorrow, this is our starting side (changes from last week in bold):
Ben Smith, Charles Piutau, Conrad Smith, Ma'a Nonu, Julian Savea, Dan Carter, Aaron Smith; Kieran Read, Richie McCaw, Jerome Kaino, Sam Whitelock, Brodie Retallick, Owen Franks, Dane Coles, Tony Woodcock.