KEY POINTS:
Maybe he was still edgy about a few near-misses riding his bicycle through the traffic in Aix-en-Provence.
Perhaps it was just one of those horror days when mistakes compound. Who knows? But Murrayfield and Sitiveni Sivivatu were not in harmony earlier this week.
It was probably the wing's worst effort in an All Black jersey since he began his test career with a four-try haul against his native Fiji in 2005.
For someone who has been reliable with the ball, he developed hands of stone in Edinburgh. Sivivatu was not alone but his gaffes were the most obvious. He lost the ball in contact or out in clear land when he shelled a precision Daniel Carter crosskick in the first few minutes.
It scarcely improved from that blunder, suggesting he had a meltdown, his confidence was shot.
Wisely, the All Black selectors have picked him again for the overnight match with Romania, otherwise even they would have been stretching their faith in Sivivatu to choose him for the quarter-final. He has speed and evasion skills which have brought him 19 tries in his 19 All Black tests, he wriggles out of tackles and gets through small gaps with his elastic swerve, footwork and change of pace.
He has been used by the Chiefs at fullback where any handling flaws have not been anywhere near as pronounced as they were at Murrayfield.
Sivivatu's clangers are not uncommon on the rugby field. Quite often when a player starts a game poorly, his assurance does not improve. It is a mental struggle like the golfer who has to reload from the tee - by then it is a struggle to stay in the round.
Just last season in the Tri-Nations, Rodney So'oialo had one of those games at Rustenburg when his mistakes seemed to multiply, while in an earlier match new centre Isaia Toeava was dragged off after half a game against the Wallabies.
Early this century Anton Oliver showed us how the yips affected his lineout throwing, while those with longer memories will recall how the most-capped All Black, Sean Fitzpatrick, had a nightmare match against the touring Lions side in 1993.
Little went right for Fitzpatrick that day after the opening scrum blew up in his face. His lineout throws wobbled, he knocked on in open play, he chased shadows for much of the 20-7 defeat at Athletic Park.
The harder he tried, the higher his error rate. Fitzpatrick's foibles showed how even the great have off-days. He proved his merits, though, the following week at Eden Park when he led the All Blacks to a series win.
Sivivatu is in the same position. He has got an opportunity to make amends, to show that Murrayfield was a one-off.
It would not surprise if Sivivatu grabs a stack of tries against Romania. He needs to get into the game early, to regain his poise and mount his challenge for a quarter-final berth.
He and "cousin" Joe Rokocoko appear to be duelling for one wing berth while the ultra-steady new All Blacks record tryscorer Doug Howlett has seen off his rivals for the right wing job.
Before Murrayfield, Rokocoko seemed to have fallen a shade behind in quarter-final favouritism but Sivivatu's blunders have evened up the selection contest.
