No nerves, just courage and finely tuned skill

The knives, All Blacks coach Graham Henry suggested during the week, are still there if you win. They're just not as sharp. After what happened in Brisbane last night that banging sound might be knives being hammered into plough shares.

This was a victory won by commitment that went beyond anything a divided team could have provided, and gives Henry and Co plenty of breathing space before the last Bledisloe Cup game of the year is played in Hong Kong.

The test in Brisbane promised almost everything, but with so much riding on a game the result is often that players are almost paralysed with nerves, and the quality of rugby (think most of the world cup finals) is mediocre.

That wasn't the case last night.

Under the hammer, struggling to get much, if any ball, in the first half, it took a second half of courage and skill from the All Blacks to win the match.

It was probably inevitable that Dan Carter would score the try that sealed the victory, but that didn't make it any less exciting.

Carter, with little possession for long stretches, wasn't able to dominate with his tactical kicking.

But what makes him the best first five-eighths in the world is how he's able to seize crucial moments.

His dart into a gap, shrugging off a despairing tackle, to score 10 minutes from time, was an almost perfect example of his value to a team.

The early intensity was huge, reflected, as it so often is, at the breakdowns, where George Smith and Richie McCaw battled for the ball with near suicidal commitment.

In most games McCaw shades his opponent, but Smith has been a terrific player for years, too, and when the Wallabies are on song, Smith has a freedom to run which he uses to not only eat up metres, but to help set up attacks.

If McCaw and Smith were determined to belt anyone in their paths, so too were the much-maligned Wallabies forwards.

Nathan Sharpe was out of the squad a couple of weeks ago, his test career apparently over, but the way he played last night he looked more like an eager newcomer.

James Horwill is a newcomer, just 23, and in only his 10th test, but when he scored his try just after halftime it was with the same fierce drive he brought to Super 14 for the Reds.

On a night for hard heads, Jimmy Cowan was the ideal man to fight for early scraps behind the All Blacks pack.

There's nothing fancy about Cowan, but he doesn't need to be.

If there was a prize for being hard-nosed Cowan looks like he's been a contender since he left kindergarten.

He ignores the precept that forwards are big and mean, and halfbacks are wisest to keep well out of their calloused grasps.

Not that anything was lost when Piri Weepu arrived in the second half. Weepu too thrives on confrontation, and didn't show any hint of nerves to be subbed on with his team down 7-17.

The Wallabies looked at their best when Stirling Mortlock and Ryan Cross conspired to switch angles with the ball, but as the minutes ticked away in the final stages, the defensive screens thrown up by the All Blacks shut down almost everything the Wallabies could throw at them, until Cross was over with time almost up.

On this display there are some wonderful tests to be played in the future, between two sides that are so evenly matched that attitude alone is likely to decide the final results.

- © Fairfax NZ News