It has been a day now since the All Blacks surrendered to Les Blues at Cardiff, and while it still hurts for we fans, think how much it is hurting for the All Blacks right now too.  On Radio Sport this morning I heard some reporter saying that Mils Muliaina was crying while talking to him today (apparently Mils one of the more approachable and comment friendly ABs), and listening to Richie McCaw, "it is harder today than it was yesterday".  So while it hurts for you and I, it ain't nothing folks!

Anyway, the shit sandwich that I have sent to the Ref should be halfway across the ocean by now, festering nicely, so while that is brewing, lets take a second look at this test match, and see where it went well, and where it turned just tits up, I will try to refrain from ref blaming too much here again, I got that (mostly) off my chest already...

A great start I thought to kick things off, with the French lining up just yards from the All Black haka, and just staring the All Blacks down as the haka'd.  The French players won this battle apparantly, many commentating that in the 'stare down' post Haka, the All Blacks were the ones looking down first.  Sure, someone has to back down, otherwise bloody Chabel and oliver would still be there staring at each other, and the game would not have kicked off!!  Anyway in the macho bullshit game of stare down, the Frogs won.  So, teams, if you want to know how to defuse the haka, just look at the 2007 RWC quarter final, NZ v France.  I expect you won't see the All Blacks setting a haka so close to the halfway line in future either.  With the French standing so close, they were looking down at the All Blacks, another position of power in the macho bullshit war.  It was the perfect start for the emotional driven Frenchies.

From there on in though, it seemed to be going to plan for the Men in Black, but even early on there were many non All Black moments, and more importantly, non Dan Carter moments.  The Chip kick (a McAlister special) deep inside our own 22 which fortunately didn't go wrong,  and even worse, a cross field kick to Rokocoko from deeper inside our own 22.  This is just not Dan Carter, we should have known then that his head was not right, and not just his head, also his calf muscle.  The two obviously related.  Perhaps Evans should have been there from the start, a fully fit player, confident in himself after getting plenty of game time over the last few weeks.  Would have perhaps been a better option than a player who by his own admission has not been in the best of form, and was worried more about his calf muscle coming through the game than anything else.  Hindsight though, is a beautiful thing.

But even in this period, where another score (at 13-nil) might have started casting doubts into the French teams minds, the Frogs were stall managing to make last ditch tackles, spoil fast ball, getting one hand onto a jersey to slow the runner down enough for the cavalry to arrive - it was often just inches, but the French were holding on, and the longer they remained in the game, the more unsure the result for the All Blacks.  AT the same time the All Blacks were no doubt thinking that we are throwing everything at these blokes (even though it didn't look like that to me), and they just aren't buckling - and there the first seeds of doubt are sewn, and the Cartrer brain explosions follow soon after)...

The forwards were trundling along as forwards do, belting the shite out of the French eight, who were doing the same in return.  Miracle of miracles though, the All Black lineout was purring along at 100%, and we were snaring French ball regularly thanks to Ali Williams picking the right moments.  As the game progressed, perhaps we should have looked to play the ball more in their corners and attack their lineout.  but this is something that we have never been able to do before, so it would have been foreign, but perhaps a bloody good idea!!  I really don't think there is much more the fatties, as a unit, could have done to win this game than they did (perhaps Woodcock could have made that tackle)!

I just can't understand our backline though, probably the worst performance from them as a unit it the Cartels tenure.  But why?  The spectre of intercepts past haunting them?  Or did Carter running on 2 cylinders kill them that much?  Having Mils and MacDonald there after next to no match play thanks to their injuries would not have helped either.  Perhaps had we been playing Romania or the ilk again it would have been fine...

The wings, well, was Sivi on the field for the first 60 minutes?  He came good in the last 20 minutes to an extent when someone told him that we are actually losing here sunbeam, want to earn your pay?  Rokocoko carried on playing well I thought, he got better and better as the RWC progressed.  Probably the best back on the field in this match.  Although that is not saying much really in a piss poor display.

Selection too, this is my first pot shot at the rotation thing, if indeed this selection was rotation, not just the Cartel thinking that this is the best team for this game.  Anyway, why Howlett was not on the field is a crime.  Even more so if he was being 'saved' for the Australian game.  This team selection should have been just the plain best XV, regardless of who we are playing.  Let them worry about us, not us about them.  Jack not getting the start in Robinson's place another contentious decision.  Then Smith or Toeava at centre and Mils to fullback...?  Not much use saving players for next week when there isn't one.  As I have said before, if you can't handle three games in three weeks, there is something wrong!!  So was the best XV started, perhaps close, but in the final wash out, no cigar.

Rugby intelligence also, where was that.  No finger pointing here at McCaw, although this collective point includes him, but no more and no less than the rest of the Cartel sitting up in the stand.  Once that lead was lost, and we were two points down, where was the call for field position, and start drop kicking as if your semi final berth relied on it?  The Cartel are wired up to the 506 runners on the field, who can get messages to the on field boys quicker than I can dial a Pizza.  So when the pick and go was firing along, why were the heading towards the sideline?  Head towards the posts, the middle of the field, and once within 30 metres - have a go.  Every time within 30 metres of those posts and a clear shot, it should have been fired.  Why the insist going for tries, when only 3 points was needed is beyond me.  This message should have gone out as soon as we slipped behind 18-20.  In my opinion anyway!

While we can, and a lot are, lay plenty of blame at the Refs feet for this loss, you can also lay a swag at the feet of the Men in Black, and also at Les Blues.  There were chances that the All Blacks blew, that if taken, we could have won this match, despite the inept Reffing.  And don't forget the French, without whom this navel gazing would not be possible.  Any team that tallies 150 odd tackles in a game, and still wins, are worthy winners.  Yes, despite any leeway they may, or may not have received from the match officials (yes, I include the touch judges who could not see many of the French hands in those rucks - yeah right), the tackles still had to be made, and they were.

So, in a nutshell, where did we lose?

On the fucking scoreboard, the only place you can, the rest is window dressing

But conjecture this (I know, terrible use of the English language).  McAlister's late 50 metre drop goal had been accurate, and a 21-20 win to the good guys.  Today we would be raving about how well the All Blacks went to survive the onslaught from the French, how mentally tough they are, how great a captain McCaw is, etc, etc, etc.

However, it wasn't.

So we aren't.