The running out of puff coincided with the English eight not smashing the All Black pack to pieces  in the first few scrums.  These were the scrums where super prop Sheridan was meant to pick up the All Black front row on his shoulders, and toss them into the third row of the stand, all by himself...  The reality however, was Tialata bending Sheridan's proping partner Stevens into a soprano over the first few scrums, and life as an Englsih tight forward was downhill from there.

Fair enough too though that the English though they would demolish the All Blacks at scrum time.  Gone were Oliver / Mealamu, Hayman, Woodcock and Jack from last seasons pack - and along with them damn near 200 caps.  I for one certainly expected a big battle, but it never eventuated - not at scrum time anyway.  So kudos to the boys that stood up to the onslaught at the weekend.  The much maligned Neemia Tialata (get your bind up boy), veteran Somerville and the never rated for his scrum work Hore (by me and Richard Loe anyway)!!  Then All Black scrum has probably picked up with Brad Thorn at tighthead lock though, but he's back on deck after a 4 year rest.

The lineout though was a different story, the All Blacks were back to their usual tricks of being piss poor at this facet of the game.  They were more than solid last week against the Paddies, stealing 4-1 against the throw.  This week though, was it 1-5 or 6 against.  Not good enough anyway - too much thought on blunting the Pom scrum and not enough respect shown to their lineout perhaps..??  Who knows, but in rugby speak, certainly plenty to work on at this restart.

Speaking of restarts, kick off receptions also not too flash.  The first of the match where the Pom eight hit the All Black pack lie a runaway 18 wheeler was superb - for the English, and fired them right up for the first ten minutes, until the All Blacks regained their composure and started to exert their will on the game.

The battle in the loose was a goodie too, with the Poms committing men to the rucks and mauls, and turning ball over far too often for my, and no doubt he All Blacks liking.  I thought the three youngster for England went well against a very strong and experienced loose trio that the All Blacks fielded.

The backlines were miles apart, the English with as much penetration as a flaccid penis, and the All Blacks backs, when they got it right, looking like John Holmes overdosing on viagra.  Dan Carter looked to be getting back to Lions form, running and taking gaps, and just 'bossing' the game as a great, or potential great should.  In contrast you have Charlie Hodgson for England who should be looking for a spare seat on any plane back to England tomorrow.  He was awful.

Midfield, Nonu is looking more and more comfortable at second five.  Having quality inside him and his Hurricanes partner Smith outside him must make his job easier though - the entire backline got into the game more with the better conditions, and started to look dangerous.  Tuitavake in particular looked a million percent more comfortable this week.  He looked to be enjoying his rugby, that is for sure.

The subbing didn't come off for the All Blacks at all - Cowan and Lauaki both looked horribly out of sorts, and well short of test level players.  Lauaki in particular was horrible

So the All Blacks will not have been happy with the opening stages of the match, and certainly will not be happy with the last 30 minutes, where they had trouble holding onto the ball, and ran on some subs that should have never left the bench.

Next week, Christchurch, expect more of the same from the men in black, but a bit more accuraty

Still two from two is good going at this stage of the season, considering that the All Blacks have been written off by most media pundits over the last 6 months.  That just goes to show what most on the Fern already know though, that the New Zealand media, while it might not be full of shit, it is bloody close...