Both Conrad Smith and Steve Hansen were smiling the day after the All Blacks were forced to play Argentina with 13 men in a torrid first World Cup match for the two nations at Wembley Stadium, but both men will be aware such an occurrence in a quarter-final will not be a laughing matter.
The All Blacks were extremely vulnerable once centre Smith joined skipper Richie McCaw in the sinbin at the end of the first half, and although they got away with it thanks to a dominant second-half performance to win 26-16, it was an experience they don't want to repeat in a knockout fixture.
Smith's decision to infringe at a ruck in front of his posts was less silly than McCaw's trip on opposite Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe, a reflex action the skipper called "dumb" and Hansen described as a "brain explosion", but the result was the same - three points to Nicolas Sanchez and a nervous 10 minutes on the naughty step.
Fortunately for Smith, there were three shots at goal during his time there - one for Sanchez for his indiscretion, one to Dan Carter at the end of the first half which narrowed the deficit to 12-13, and one more to Sanchez after the break. The other piece of luck was that Argentina couldn't cash in on the absence of the pair with a try.
