The performance by the All Blacks on Saturday night was by far and away one of their best efforts in recent years, and will have gone a long way to silencing some of their critics.

They completely dominated the game, and played the Wallabies right out of it.

Everything they did wrong in Sydney, they got right in Auckland - and then some.

The most impressive thing about their display was the accuracy of their kicking game. Dan Carter, Jimmy Cowan and Mils Muliaina were all on target with their kicks, and rather than kicking to the midfield, they drilled the ball down to the Wallabies 22 - which really put the Wallabies off their game.

We were doing to them what they traditionally do to us, and it was about time.

Tony Woodcock scored the game's first try, and to the surprise of many was on hand again to score his second of the night. His second came off a well worked lineout move, which (from the look on Graham Henry's face) you could tell was something they had been practicing.

The Wallabies bounced back to score before halftime, with Adam Ashley-Cooper scoring off the back off a strong Mortlock run. It was a rare mistake by the All Blacks, but fortunately it was the only one they'd make.

At halftime, the score was 21-10 to the All Blacks.

The All Blacks came out fired up in the second half, and from that point on the Wallabies weren't in the game.

Ma'a Nonu scored early on, which was really the last nail in the Wallabies coffin.

He score again in the final seconds of the match, giving the All Blacks a convincing 39-10 victory over the near-invisible Wallabies. It was the perfect performance to make up for their efforts the week before.

It was great to see them attacking, and winning, the lineouts, and impressively they won eight of the Wallabies throws. Didn't we say they needed to put some faith in their lineout capabilities?

I think we did, you know...

Jimmy Cowan showed why we think he is the number one halfback in the country - his kicking game was perfect, as was his passing, which was quick and accurate. He even pulled out the old dive pass.

With that one performance, he should have leapfrogged Andy Ellis as the number 9 starter.

The All Black forwards relished having Richie back. Our work around the ruck was impressive, we got numbers to the breakdown, and we drove the Wallaby forwards off the ball. Richie always leads from the front, and it obviously motivates the others to get stuck in.

What can we say about the Wallabies? Nothing really, because they weren't even given an opportunity to get into the game. The All Blacks kept the pressure on, and the Wallabies got thrown off their game plan.

When the Wallabies beat us last week, it was because we were terrible - not because they were brilliant.

We've shown that when we play well, they can't keep up with us - and Saturday was an excellent example of that.

The next stop for both sides is the difficult task of South Africa. The Springboks are a real chance of taking out the Tri Nations, with three home games still to play.

The All Blacks need to win in Cape Town if they want to hold onto the Tri Nations for another year. It won't be easy, but if they play like they did on Saturday they stand every chance of winning.

The Wallabies play two games in South Africa, and despite beating the Boks earlier on, they face a very difficult task ahead of them.

The Tri Nations, sports fans, is heating up.