Anyone who reckons they can name the 31 players the All Blacks are going to take to the World Cup is kidding themselves.
They might guess it by luck but not because they have been able to analyse the selections for the first four tests of the year and make accurate conclusions.
The team named this morning to play Australia created as much doubt as it provided certainty. What's becoming clear is that there is a stronger picture forming in the forwards than there is the backs.
If the World Cup final were next week, the selectors would have a good idea as to who they would name in the pack. Tony Woodcock, Dane Coles and Owen Franks is - by a distance - their preferred starting front-row. Jerome Kaino, Richie McCaw and Kieran Read are the preferred loose trio. Brodie Retallick is the number one lock - but surprisingly, there isn't yet clarity as to whom the selectors see as his preferred partner.