Sean Fitzpatrick: Build-up time fascinating to watch

The weeks ahead will set the tone for the build-up to the World Cup next year. With some teams surging while others fade, it is a fascinating period.

The All Blacks made just one change to the team that played Wales last night, after their emphatic trouncing of an ill-disciplined Irish side last week, and my immediate reaction was to smile and nod my head appreciatively.

It is a joy to see continuity in selection and while I understand the realities of the modern game necessitate big squads and a degree of rotation, I also know continuity and consistent high performance are natural bedfellows.

Although I suspect Graham Henry will change all that for the next test against the Welsh, there are signs the side is settling.

However, the style of play still needs a bit of attention, although there are positive signs. It was hard to read too much into the Irish game and the way it developed but it - and last night's performance - certainly looked as if the new rule interpretations have provided the All Blacks with a licence to be more attacking.

The defence still needs to be bolted down but I got the sense there is a shift towards point-scoring opportunism and away from pure percentage rugby with its attrition and mistake-minimisation.

I would be delighted if this is the case, because we have game-breakers and try-makers. However - and just a small 'but' here - such a style must be balanced with pragmatism.

The set piece still dictates games and a "we'll score more points than you" approach can quickly turn into desperation under the pressure of the clock if it is not orchestrated coolly and intelligently.

We must continue to play the right game in the right areas. That means we need to keep encouraging and enabling our players to make effective on-pitch, split-second decisions, rather than drill them in blind pursuance of a game plan.

This ability to make quick calls, to amend and abandon pre-set moves, and to play what is in front of them will complement the natural abilities of this playing group. They certainly have the talent and technical skills to pull it off.

It was the missing ingredient at Cardiff in 2007 and, if the glimpses we saw against the Irish and Welsh can bloom into a cohesive and consistent development of a refined, more expansive All Black approach, things are looking good.

Of course I want us to win every game we play, so I'm not going to spout some nonsense about the style being more important than the result.

But what I want to see against the Welsh, and whoever we play in the coming year, isn't just victory.

I want to see (and hope and believe we will see) ever-increasing evidence that there is real substance to this All Black team.

I want to see that within this group we are breeding game-smart players who have confidence in their ability to execute a flexible game plan; that we command increasing authority whenever we take to the pitch; and that we display clinical, brutal precision in finishing off the opposition.

The Rugby World Cup is a long way off, but for the first time at the weekend, I got the sense the massive weight of the All Blacks is shifting into gear. I can feel the beginnings of a momentum that, if it can intensify, might make for a very interesting 15 months ahead.