Where Can the All Blacks Improve against England?

The All Blacks have always been a bit rusty in their first-up game, particularly if it is their first after several months.

The build-up to last night's series opener was not helped by the fact that the squad had less than a week to prepare for the test, with players coming straight from Super Rugby into the national training squad - contrast that to the English who had at least two weeks to prepare for this test even with missing key players.

Still, given that the All Blacks are the best team in the world and most players had featured heavily in Super Rugby this season, you would have expected a far better performance from each individual than the bungling effort that we saw last night.

Indeed, the last time we witnessed so many poor individual performances from the All Blacks was also against England - in that infamous defeat to the English at Twickenham in December 2012.

No one really stood out from 1 to 15 and the best score you would give each person would be a 6. Perhaps, the ever reliable, Conrad Smith, was the best player in black on the night, again giving a consistent performance in attack and defence at centre and was possibly integral in that brave decision to quickly tap and try and catch the English napping right at the end when a penalty goal to take the lead would have been the safe option.

Could Malakai Fekitoa start on the wing next week against England?

On the other hand, the likes of Ma'a Nonu, Israel Dagg, Aaron Cruden and even to a certain extent, Ben Smith had games to forget. Then there was Cory Jane who was virtually non-existent on the wing - his future in the All Blacks must be in question now once Julian Savea returns from injury, as he has not looked like the player he once was.

Indeed, one might argue that Nonu and Dagg might not be the players that they once were. Dagg may be out of form and also nursing an injury, being completely out of sorts at fullback and deservedly replaced by Beauden Barrett. Nonu was also kept quiet and it was only when Fekitoa and Barrett came on that the ABs backline finally looked dangerous.

The forwards seemed quite quiet on the night although they fared much better than the backs. In fact, it was Brodie Retallick of all people who sparked the ABs to life late in the game with that break which resulted in the sin-binning of the generally excellent English winger, Marland Yarde. There were plenty of missed tackles and Liam Messam was particularly quiet - it could be him that drops out of the lineup once Kieran Read is fit. Jerome Kaino looked pretty solid in his first game in black in 3 years although he did fumble a certain try in the 2nd half. That black mark aside, Kaino's return will be hugely welcomed and he should be in the side for some time.

Victor Vito's return to the black jersey was quite a success too, with the Wellington number 8 making a huge impact off the bench and inducing the penalty that sealed the game for the ABs right at the end. If Read isn't fit to start next weekend, expect Vito to pack at the back of the scrum with Kaino shifted to blindside.

So what now for the ABs?
 
Expect a week of soul-searching and contemplation, as well as hard work on skills under the high ball and handling which seemed to be non-existent last night.

Expect a lot of changes too. This is my tip for the lineup next week.

1.Tony Woodcock
2.Dane Coles
3.Charlie Faumuina
4.Brodie Retallick
5.Sam Whitelock
6.Jerome Kaino
7.Richie McCaw (captain)
8.Kieran Read/Victor Vito
9.Aaron Smith
10.Beauden Barrett
11.Julian Savea
12.Ma'a Nonu
13.Conrad Smith
14.Malakai Fekitoa
15.Ben Smith

16.Keven Mealamu
17.Wyatt Crockett
18.Owen Franks
19.Patrick Tuipulotu
20.Victor Vito/Liam Messam
21.TJ Perenara
22.Aaron Cruden
23.Ryan Crotty