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Anton Lienert-Brown proves All Blacks right on rotation

Anton Lienert-Brown Gabriel Rossi/LatinContent/Getty Images

Argentina looked like they gave the All Blacks way too much respect in Buenos Aires and what we ended up with was literally a game of two distinct halves. The damage had been done so far as New Zealand were concerned by halftime.

The All Blacks were clinical and for skipper Kieran Read to decide at a penalty goal chance, "we're going to score a try and we're going to camp down here until we get it", demonstrated their intent and that they were never really scared of losing the game. They looked the challenge right in the eye.

That was clear in the scrums where, in the first half, the All Blacks took the Argentina pack apart. And after that they had nothing left. Argentina pride themselves on their scrum but the All Blacks demolished it and they had no game.

The All Blacks' defence was absolutely massive. They got up in the Pumas' faces and took them apart.

Anton Lienert-Brown was given a start at centre and he took it with two hands. It is actually a real concern for anyone who gets tapped on the shoulder and told they are going to be given a rest because there is a chance they may never get back again.

I see Ben Smith said "please don't rest me', but that may be the only way we get new players involved. In yesteryear you would have called it rotation but let's be honest, rotation was never a dirty word. It's good coaching, it's developing, it's giving other players an opportunity and it's building a group of good players and they are expanding their selection options.

Graham Henry brought in the rotation process way back when everyone said he couldn't do that, but now Steve Hansen is actually showing why he needs to do it and there can be no doubt that it is the correct thing to do. But, of course, he doesn't call it rotation and he's got away with it quite nicely.

This weekend it is a case of the Springboks worrying about the Springboks. The All Blacks will have flown to Durban with a lot more work-ons which is scary. Argentina were put to the sword in the first 40 minutes, but the All Blacks' line speed being was so fast that they did tend to get offside a fraction which the assistant referees were calling.

But South Africa can only go back to the best game they can play. The Lions' style hasn't worked for them and it says everything when they couldn't get within 10m of the Australian goal-line.

The All Blacks will show respect to the South Africans - tradition demands that - but they are all fighting for positions and their biggest threat is the bloke behind them creating all the competition in the squad which brings out the best in them and it is a really good place to be.

There is the other factor, the looming world record for successive Test wins. That can be a distraction. They have said that they will concentrate on what is in front of them - the next game and all that. But the record will be looming in the background.

They'll all be aware of it, it's a world record at tier-one level after all, but they've just got to be business as usual because the next game could be a banana skin if they take their eye off who they are playing.

The media, the public and the fans have this feeling they are going to do it, and that's easy for us sitting on the couch or on the sideline predicting the future; but we're not the guys who have to run out onto the arena and do the job. So the All Blacks want their heads focused on what that job is.

And the Springboks will know that is at the back of the All Blacks' minds. If there is one team that can pull out a big game just because it is the All Blacks, it is South Africa. The Boks aren't playing great rugby at the moment, but they will be full of passion on home soil.

It's worth remembering the 1995 World Cup final and everyone saying that all the All Blacks had to do was turn up on the day and win it. We all talk about the food poisoning and that the All Blacks weren't on their game, but the reality is South Africa were fired up and were men possessed that day and they won the World Cup. That was a banana skin that no-one saw coming.

Their supporters are some of the most passionate rugby fans in the world, second probably only to the Kiwis.

Durban is a great place and that will probably, if anything, help the All Blacks. The climate is good; it's at sea level and it's a nice place to play but it is a very hostile environment at King's Park. The fans are so close to the field and the tiers of the stadium have the crowd right on top of you. But that shouldn't faze the All Blacks; they've all played there and South Africa is pretty much a second home to a professional rugby player.

And the other interesting thing is the choice of London for the Argentina-Australia game. It was probably a good result for the Aussies because their flight to London from South Africa along the same time line would be easier than flying on to Argentina. It will have been a bit tougher for the Pumas.

Being Argentina's home game it will be interesting to see how they approach it, given the sides played there last year in the World Cup semifinal where Australia claimed the win.

Twickenham is one of the best stadiums in the world and there's certainly lots of Australian fans living in London and enough rugby purists to watch a Championship game.