Positives to take from the All Blacks' loss

Can the All Blacks really play that badly again ???

Willie, interesting squad, for mine; Props - Replace Ben Franks with Charles Faumuina (I know, no game time but put him in to start two of the pool matches and of the bench of a third ... Locks - Well served with your picks Backrow - Drop Messam, and replace with Victor Vito.. I agree with Willie, Messam lost it when Kaino came back Halfback - Agree with two only to be chosen (Hansen had already muted that might be possible) but Aaron Smith needs to stop reading his own press. He is looking very much to me like his success has gone to his head and his play is suffering for it. Still No I pick but someone should have a little whisper in his ear. If a third is to be taken, it would have to be TKB - depending on the mix Flyhalf - a bit of a concern for me here. I've been an unashamed support of DC in that I think his injury worries are behind him with the loss of a few kilos he was asked to carry. I also believe that an 80% firing DC was above any other flyhalf in NZ. My concern is that will he be able to play at least 80% of his prime. For this reason, I concur with Sogoaga to be selected to run on and play the Puma's, DC to run on in another pool match and duties shared with BB in the other pool games. Slade to miss out unfortunately. Midfield - Your selections will not let the squad down Outside backs - Sorry but Dagg might need to make way for NMS in my 31.

Good squad, I would drop Dagg and SBW for Milner-Skudder and Crotty but alas it won't happen. dc nz

Agree Sopoaga has to get a go - handles pressure and good kicking at goals which matters greatly in knock out games (to state the rather obvious)

A 1/4 final against France in Cardiff? What could possibly go wrong, piece of p_ss.

History would suggest we do besides Lima is the only specialised first-five Barrett can slot into FUll back and Slade can slot into full back and wing as well - I think we need Lima as preferred back up. I would add though that I think Dagg should be dropped for Milner-Skudder - he offers so much and can also slot into fullback quite comfortably...either way they are good problems to have.

Personally, I think the ABs were aware of their issues at the breakdown. They admit post-match that they thought they were able to nullify this threat at Ellis. Perhaps they underestimated how effective Pocock and Hooper would be together. Lessons learned. A critical factor in the ruck battle was the lenience offered by Barnes in this area. This weekend a different interpretation comes into play, and if Smith gets clean ball at the back, the backline will click.

expatmatt - nah crockett struggles at scrum time vs the big boys. awesome runner and tackler ...for a prop... but his primary role is scrummaging. you should be worried about the RWC, we all should be and the AB's moreso. its not a given and winning the WC is hard. ABs needed a reminder and the WBs gave to us at the perfect time. and its not boks and WBs we have to worry about its all the teams that we come up against

Not including Milner Skuder is crazy. He will be going to the RWC. When you drop a player when he was the best player on the field for your team, what message does that tell him? It wont happen, he will be going. The authors view on SBW was immature and vexatious. Before SBW went back to the roosters his form was out of this world. He went back to the roosters and his form continued. I was surprised he stayed another season and his form dropped. He switched to rugby and his form had stayed down. I don't know why. He was one of a kind. They all put the boot in when he was brilliant so naturally they will come in for the kill when his form is down. I hope SBW can find that magic again.

Except they have their old rivals La Bleur waiting for them

Positives to take away from All Blacks loss - the All Blacks finally lost

OJ when the Rolls Royce misfires a full workshop analysis is required, appropriate adjustments to remedy made and back on the road she goes. Good until the next service stop. Built for endurance the upcoming short course off road rally will test suspension and other engine parts.

agree with that except for crockett- has had his issues in the past being penalised off the park but is better now and should be in the team getting a bit nervous about the RWC actually - Boks are playing possum- nothing surer, Wobblies have got their tails up with Cheika cracking the whip- and tahst only the SH teams!

agree and after that its a lottery - one bad day at the office and its all over - regardless of talent.

The biggest positive for the All Blacks was that their winning streak ended. There's no way that this side were going to win 17 matches in a row to take the Cup. There was a very real possibility that we could have lost in Johannesburg *and* Sydney, so one road loss isn't too bad. I doubt you'll see other nations fretting over their warm-up games to this extent aside from South African fans, but this is the kind of place from which the Springboks could launch a run. The World Cup is a tournament. It's full of vagaries yet people still look for patterns heading into it. Did the Wallabies advance their World Cup cause on Sat? Not really. Will people say they did? Of course, because sports journalism these days revolves around "three key things we learned" takeaways and forced narratives. The other positive was Milner-Skudder and the potential for the All Blacks to field a stellar backline if they get the combinations right and the forwards provide a platform.

First time he's been beaten by an oz 7- and it took his 140th test- and two 7's at that...sounds about right- fair contest... Fancy that, ganging up on the old man like that... :-)

Best thing that came out of this match for the AB's was the loss itself. The descriptions of the players here would never have surfaced had they won. So they all get to take a good look at themselves...perfect timing for the World cup. That match could have been the final or semi final so having one like that so close keeps them on edge. Savea coming back fat is exactly what complacency does. Wallabies coming to Eden Park isn't easy in normal circumstances, but coming off a loss double the trouble. Same old story, if the AB's click and play well, they'll win. Last week they didn't as the Wallabies didnt let them. This week they need to stamp their authority, and let the skill levels do the rest.

"win easily this w/end" you are going to be eating your words come this weekend.

Cheer up - you had the third best No7 out there!

The centers that will get serious game time (i.e. knockout stages) will be Nonu and Smith starting with Malakai Fekitoa on the bench (Since he covers both 12 and 13). Barring injury, I expect Smith to play every minute of the knockout stages because of the massively influential role he plays in organizing attack in the wider channels and in marshaling the defense. Nonu will probably start ahead of Fekitoa by virtue of his years of combination with Smith and the fact that he offers limited cover from the bench because he's more of specialist 12 (though he has played at 13 for the ABs). With this in mind, the 4th center in the squad is largely included to pummel minnows and rest/cotton wool the first choice centers. SBW will excel against the minnows so can't really fault a decision to include him in the squad (if this happens). Dagg's inclusion (again, IF this happens) also makes sense. In a knockout game I expect the back three to be: 15. Dagg, 14. Ben Smith 11. Savea because in a situation where a loss means exit from the tournament, you want the most experienced players on the park. Players who are not likely to get rattled by the occassion (because they've done it all before) and who could auto-pilot what they should do in every situation that arises. This is Dagg ahead of Nehe Milner Skudder or even Charles Piutau for that matter. A similar argument would make a case for Dan Carter's inclusion. I felt he had a zero balance game this weekend past. Sure, he messed up a couple of restarts and missed a few at goal. But he also got a half break that set up a try. I think Hanson should hedge his bets by giving Carter the first 50 minutes in the games leading up to knock outs and Sopoaga the last 30 to gain experience/combination with the players around him. Should Carter regain his confidence and consequently his ability to dictate a game, he's the man for the knockouts. If not, Sopoaga will hopefully have the experience to take up the reins.