Like nearly all of the country, I was home in front of the telly on Saturday for another superb test performance by the All Blacks.

It was hard to keep up with the pace of the game and who would ever have predicted a half time score 32-14 in favour of the All Blacks?

It was all over, rover.  The All Blacks would never surrender a lead like that.

A lot of comment suggests that once again, the All Blacks are peaking too early as they have tended to do in the past.

But the All Blacks are consistently the best team in the world year on year.    Last year, when they lost three times to South Africa – well, it was an aberration.    In the end, it doesn’t matter how many tests you win, when it comes to the sudden death phase in a World Cup, you can’t have an off day.  If you do, then it’s time to pack your bags.

I firmly believe that having Graham Henry still in there coaching with Steve Hanson and Wayne Smith will ensure that this team is absolutely primed and ready for next year’s World Cup.

Because they were there and went through the immense pain of that 2007 World Cup failure, they will never let that happen again.

I was there in Cardiff that fateful night and it was the worst possible feeling .  The atmosphere before the game in Cardiff was like nothing I’d ever experienced.   Cardiff was abuzz.  And because Cardiff is so well designed with the stadium right in the centre of town (the way Auckland should be!), then a sea of black shirts and silver ferns marched towards the Millenium Stadium for what was a mere formality of a game.   There was hardly a French shirt to be seen.   It felt like a crusade with an inevitable successful result.

By half time, when things weren’t  going particularly well,  the kiwi voices faltered, and suddenly, the French shirts started miraculously appearing in the stadium and the tide turned.

The pain of that night will live in the NZ psyche forever and there are still enough people involved in this current campaign to almost guarantee that it will never happen again.

Fighting talk I realise, but a team like this thrives on self belief and will get better and better. We need to remember that really there are only three serious games to win in a World Cup: Quarter, Semi and World Cup Final.

I think we, as supporters, need to stop any negative thoughts.The All Blacks as a team need to win every blimmin’ test between now and the World Cup.

By doing that, they put the pressure so firmly on any opposition that when they play  the AB’s,  they have a distinct psychological disadvantage.  Add to that the local crowd support and it’s looking really good for a successful year in 2011.

Easy, eh?