KEY POINTS:
About six players will run out against Romania late tonight figuring they are in the running for quarter-final test spots.
Of those, Dan Carter and Jerry Collins are obviously certainties.
The others are Keven Mealamu, Aaron Mauger, Sitiveni Sivivatu and Joe Rokocoko - but only one of the two wings will play, Doug Howlett having a mortgage on the right wing spot with his fine run of form.
Mauger, though far more experienced and a safer pair of hands than Luke McAlister, has his work cut out holding out the younger man. Mealamu or Anton Oliver at hooker? Either will do a good job. Take your pick.
So what do the other players try to achieve tonight, knowing this might be their final game at the World Cup - and in some cases the last test of their All Black career?
They should play the pattern they've been told, play proper test rugby, get the forwards moving early, plenty of pick and go to start - and forget about what Romania might do.
There is also pride in the black jersey. Sometimes this gets knocked down, but it's a real and relevant aspect, especially for those coming to the end of the road.
Jerry Collins, as captain for the day, will be emphasising this to the players in the dressing-room.
This is a time for players, not the coaching staff, to put their heads together and make it a collective push. No one wants to end with an ordinary performance.
The interesting thing about the days of long tours, when an A and B team generally sorted itself out reasonably early, you invariably got strong displays from the B team.
They usually became a harmonious bunch, knowing they weren't in the top team, but were determined to make their own contribution to the tour.
This, Carter and Collins excepted, has B team written all over it. Graham Henry got terse yesterday, suggesting the media should ease up on the team for having a few days' holiday this week - and the coaching staff for putting out a B team.
If this was my All Black squad the top side would have played every game from Scotland onwards. End of story.
However, you have to assume the selectors have their strategies in place. They've had four years to fine tune them. If they're wrong, they know they'll cop a massive serve from the rugby public back home.
A special thought for Keith Robinson. I hope he comes through tonight with flying colours. You can guarantee he won't be going in half-cocked. He only knows one way to play rugby and that's at full throttle. The good thing is he does not take long to get up to speed.
If Robinson has a recurrence of his calf problem it will be a terrible thing for the Waikato lock, who is a wholehearted type of guy. And it will leave the All Blacks vulnerable, because Reuben Thorne does not appeal as back-up lock against the big-hitting sides who lie in wait.
Whatever happens between England and Tonga overnight, I hope Fiji beat Wales to ensure a Pacific Island presence in the quarter-finals.
If you consider the rugby infrastructure and organisation of the island teams, they punch far above their weight. Yet at every World Cup bar the 2003 event, at least one PI nation has been in the quarter-finals - or the quarter-final playoffs in the oddly-structured 1999 tournament.
Fiji are totally infatuated with the game, so too the Samoans and Tongans. At every cup it's as if they're knocking on the International Rugby Board door saying "hey, we're still here. Don't forget about us".
They've had to endure rough treatment from the game's masters down the years. They are always among the cup's entertainers - and deserve much better.
