Now it seems as though the first three weeks of pool play were used as a reconditioning window. Is this taking the challenge of pool play a little lightly? Is it using the games as opposed training runs? No and yes.
This is necessary. The revelation that the All Blacks have been purposely using games to test certain strategies is a little odd, but why show their hand now?
It's frustrating for fans and it doesn't help with the second-guessing that accompanies it, but it is a case of damned if they do and damned if they run up the scores.
Dan Carter was quoted yesterday saying the last three weeks of training have been intense.
There was a lot of running and heavy lifting. He said parts worked and others didn't. Hopefully, by the time the quarter-final rolls around, the clear heads will know what to do to ensure victory.
This brings in the Tonga match, which appears as the part of the plan to step it up a gear.
The All Blacks are now at the stage of the year where they would normally be focusing on a northern tour. Scotland, Japan and the United States have all been "Tonga" in the past three years.
To quote Herald reporter Gregor Paul's match report from Chicago's Soldier Field last year after the All Blacks won 74-6: "In the background is the World Cup and this whole idea they are simulating what they are likely to encounter in the back half of next year's tournament."
The back half begins now. The pace and power of the structures the All Blacks executed against the United States was a clinical display against a lesser team.
They then went on to battle England, Scotland (a touch unconvincingly) and Wales, whom they trailed with just 13 minutes to go.
In 2013, they had the Dane Coles and Ryan Crotty miracle of Dublin and the two tests before saw the defeat of France and then England.
The 23 who took part in the escape job at Dublin's Aviva Stadium contained 18 players now at the Rugby World Cup.
The key is in the last three northern tours they have found themselves in different situations with a familiar outcome and now is the time to start piecing it together.
In 12 tests on three end-of-year tours they dropped one game, which was to a team that won't feature in the knockout phase of their own tournament.
Tomorrow morning's game probably won't be as bizarre and disjointed as last week's effort against Georgia, and they should start to look like the favourites again.
