PROVING HIS WORTH: Wing Cory Jane scored a great individual try and played well to almost cement his place in the All Blacks starting line-up.

Humble pie has never tasted so sweet.

In last week's column I had the temerity to question Cory Jane's place in the All Blacks.

It was just a hunch, nothing personal, and it gives me great pleasure this week to state the obvious and write that Jane proved me so, so wrong during his, albeit brief, but nonetheless virtuoso performance at Eden Park on Saturday night.

Bravo Cory.

The flying wing was back to his form of last year with pace, vision and that powerful fend of his which produced an excellent test try.

The only shame was he had to leave the field in a groggy state after a head knock which left me and a bumper crowd wanting more.

I certainly hope we get our wish later in this tournament. I have a hunch we will.

Jane and his mates were in ruthless form in Auckland against France and that is one of the defining differences which separates the All Blacks from the chasing pack at the moment.

While they are making the odd mistake like every team, they are creating plenty of opportunities and best of all, they are nailing them.

A number of the tournament's top sides are manufacturing linebreaks and then squandering try-scoring chances. But not so the All Blacks. They are pouncing on them and this hunger is being replicated on defence too.

Sure, they have conceded the odd try, but two of them have been from intercepts, the other from a goal-line skirmish, and the fourth was just plain dodgy. The point I make is their system, or defensive pattern, has not been breached yet.

When a break is made the cover is there to mop up the threat before it manifests into points.

That is a phenomenal effort. Look at what they observed on defence in the first 10 minutes against the French, and then still had the energy to strike on attack when given a chance.

Defence is every bit as important to the team as the razzle dazzle stuff. That's why Graham Henry will be really happy with the accuracy and effort from his team in this facet of play.

Another technical aspect of their play, which has been largely overlooked, but is also underpinning their winning ways, is their ball presentation.

As a former halfback I take a keen interest in this area of play.

The All Blacks are using the long plant regularly when they are tackled, placing the ball well away from their chests, allowing their team-mates to step over the ball.

All New Zealand's halfbacks are being presented with good clean and fast ball to distribute to the backs.

It's the cornerstone of the All Blacks' attack and it's working a treat.

I wonder how long it will take for other teams to catch on?

Not long would be my guess.

Australia is always fast to pick up on trends but their depth is being sorely tested at the moment. I still think they are a big threat as are England. Both have the firepower and look menacing. But All Blacks are hitting their straps at the right time, have hit the 85 percent mark in terms of their performance capability, and look eager and willing to improve and grow as a side.

Several players, notably Jane, Dan Carter, Adam Thomson and Israel Dagg, all had huge games against the French.

Thomson is becoming the obvious answer to our depth problems at No 8. With a concerted coaching effort I think he could make the position his own. He's big enough. He is a great lineout jumper, is quick off the base of the scrum and is a physical presence at the breakdown.

I have always thought No 8 was his best position and, let's face it, we don't have any depth in that area.

WATCH OUT FOR: Clever defence.

I have noticed a bit of a trend in some of the northern hemisphere games at the contact area. The tackler is targeting the ball when a player is upright and instead of trying to rip it away as is the natural instinct they are using it to hold the attacker up. So creating a maul and if the opposition can't get it to ground, and even if they do it is quite often a collapsed maul, a turnover is the result. Ireland did it a lot against Australia, I have seen Wales do it and England were doing it very well against Romania. It's smart as teams like New Zealand, Australia, and Pacific Island teams in particular want to play at pace and this tactic keeps the ball up and slows the game speed down.