Hard to know after the All Blacks 42-9 clattering of Wales at the Brook in the weekend but Welsh great Barry John was in no doubt praising Dan Carter as "the greatest flyhalf of the modern era" & bemoaning the Wales 2nd half performance.
 
Why is it that Dan Carter seems to reserve his best performances for the Northern hemisphere sides, particularly the Home Nations, as highlighted by his 2nd test master class versus the Lions in 2005?  Give Carter front foot ball & any room to manoeuvre on phase ball & he can cut you to ribbons.  The acceleration seems to remain intact after the Achilles injury & once through a gap he is devastating.
 
Other noticeable points from the test were;

Only in South Africa could a commentator during a soccer World Cup match between Brazil & North Korea start talking about Joel Stransky's bloody drop goal in the 1995 World Cup final!  All it needed was the game to be held at Ellis Park & the ball to be somewhere in that half of the field.
 
The Boks won it in 2007 so why do they always have to harp back to 1995?  As I was there at Ellis Park on that fateful day in 1995 there are only so many shots of Mandela handing the trophy to Francois Pienaar that I can take!

As New Zealanders we need no reminding how keen Wayne Barnes is to pull a card from his pocket & send someone from the field.  Though to be fair to him Jamie Heaslip & Ronan O'Gara left him with little choice.
 
Unfortunately, as much as we all like to see the All Blacks romp to victory, the Irish indiscipline meant this test was over as a meaningful contest after 15 minutes & eventually turned into a scrappy affair that won't mean much in the great history of NZ rugby.
 
So what can we take from it .....

Victor Vito replacing Jerome Kaino is the only change to the run-on XV for this weekend's match vs Wales as Graham Henry seems intent on using the Steinlager series to test a few rookies.  Not a bad policy either as the Northern Hemisphere teams were pretty disappointing across the board last weekend (except Scotland of all people).
 
What is harder to understand is how Richard Kahui can replace Zac Guildford on the bench in one of three changes there (the others being the return of Woodcock for Tialata & Big Red for Kaino).

He's coming home, he's coming home, he's coming - Sonny's coming home.  That's right, I was wrong & the lure of the Black jersey has meant more the Sonny Bill Williams than a truck load of Euro's (which are rapidly losing their value anyway).  This already puts him ahead of Carl Hayman in my estimation.
 
Whether all this hoopla is justified remains to be seen but incredibly it seems that Counties remain the front runners for his NPC contract.  Maybe he should head down to Patumahoe to really learn the basics of the game at the grassroots level including how to knock over a quart of Lion Red.

As NZ cricket continually searches the depths for an intimidating fast bowler they will once again cast a jealous look at the All Blacks with Israel Dagg revealing he gave up a cricket career as a young tearaway quick to concentrate on rugby a la Jeff Wilson.  Apparently he impressed the Aussie cricket side at a net session as a 16 year old.

Fred Allen becomes Sir Fred Allen & about time too given his service to NZ rugby as a player, coach & administrator.  As All Black coach he was not afraid to give the great Pinetree a serve either which surely qualifies him for a knighthood.
 
Great to see him celebrating last weekend by awarding the trophy named in his honour, the Fred Allen Challenge Cup, to the mighty Auckland University side after they handed Ponsonby their first defeat in 42 matches in Auckland club rugby.

The greatest ever product of Henderson High School, Michael Niko Jones, had been appointed the Rugby World Cup volunteer ambassador. 
 
The organisers are looking for 5,000 volunteers during the tournament so if you miss out on tickets this may be your way in though you probably have more chance of making the World Cup squad itself.

Great to see Israel Dagg named to make his All Black debut this Saturday.  The starting XV also includes two other new test caps - Ben Franks & Benson Stanley, with another 3 (Whitelock, Weepu & Cruden) named on the bench. 
 
Meanwhile the Irish have named a reasonably strong side given some of the injured players left at home.  Every NZ fan will be pleased to see Ronan O'Gara starting & there also may be some weakness around that tight five.  Plenty of class in the backs & watch out for Rob Kearney, one of the stars of the Lions tour of South Africa last year.

What is going on with the importing of half backs & first fives into the Auckland area?  First of all the Blues draft in Alby Mathewson, Stephen Brett & Daniel Kirkpatrick & now the Auckland Rugby Union have signed Toby Morland & Matt Berquist for the NPC.