KEY POINTS:
We have been treated to a top class performance from the All Blacks.
The passion and precision of the opening 25 minutes will have stunned most observers, and certainly the Italians, who looked as if they didn't know what had hit them.
While they would have assumed a
beating, the ferocity with which the All Blacks went about their work crushed any hope of respectability for the Italians.
The All Blacks seemed to relish the concept of playing a real test - in fact any match - such has been the lack of game time for most of them.
I guess it's easy to rip into the opposition with hustle and bustle, but this was more calculating. It seemed all the bits of the jigsaw we have seen during the season came together.
The lineout was cleverly worked with short ones called regularly and the use of the drive enabled the tight forwards to build some early cohesion.
The accuracy at the ruck and maul was such that Richie McCaw had a pleasant afternoon. The support he got from his teammates meant he was untroubled by the Italians or the vagaries of the rules and referee.
Most of the forwards had strong games, particularly Ali Williams, Chris Jack, Jerry Collins and Rodney So'oialo joining McCaw and offering power, accuracy and discipline.
The All Black scrum has rightly been getting high praise for some time but the Italians were no slugs in this set piece.
Yesterday won't do props Carl Hayman and Tony Woodcock any harm at all. In fact they will have relished a decent contest to start their campaign.
I suspect the engage process is muting some of the scrum's power, but they need to adapt and probably achieve a stronger initial hit against stocky European front rowers.
Dan Carter and Luke McAlister cooked up enough to give confidence to those inside and out.
The width and angles run by the likes of Mils Muliaina at centre and Leon MacDonald at fullback gives confidence if others are still injured.
And what of the Italians?
Not facing the haka was their first mistake; day dreaming into the first 20 minutes was another.
I thought they were better than what we saw. Certainly recent match form would indicate that, so maybe it was an off day.
Either way, the All Blacks could not have given themselves and their supporters a better start.
No doubt there will be changes for Portugal this weekend. Fair enough.
But the bar has been set and any less emphatic performance from the newcomers may mean little more playing time for the later matches.
England were like a mis-firing car and were stuck in third gear against the United States yesterday.
They will get through pool play but will require more of an X factor to match the teams from the Southern Hemisphere. Do they have it?
Jonny Wilkinson, when he returns from another injury, will add some solidity and goalkicking surety, but I wonder if the present game has passed England by.
Australia were clinical and play a patterned style which is perfect for the likes of Japan, who are usually in the place you expect defensively, but lack the physical presence or the mindset to adapt and change tactics to upset the methodical Wallabies.
So a good start for Australia and despite the cruel injury to Mark Gerrard they will grow with the tournament.
And what a disastrous start for the hosts. I think France thought they could take Argentina on at their strengths of scrum, lineout and ruck, ride them out with passion and the home crowd.
How wrong they were. I assumed France would bring something special to the cup. What I saw was similar to the stuff they have produced against the All Blacks for the last few years.
Where is the flair, the unpredictability and, yes, even the brutality of old?
Argentina offer strong set pieces and defence close in but not much in attack. They will be vulnerable to the likes of Australia and the All Blacks.
Should we start thinking about France in the quarter-finals in Cardiff? It's probably a bit early. Let's see if they get through Ireland and how Argentina react to coming off a high.
But Graham Henry will only be thinking about Portugal.