It may be a bit trite, but seven days is indeed a long time in sport.

I wrote before the game that the final 20 minute in Hamilton had showed us the way forward and the All Blacks played like that on Saturday night for virtually the whole 80 minutes.

I thought we were outstanding, even considering Australia were pretty average on the night.

We showed when we play positive rugby and keep the ball in hand we can be quite effective. And they boys scored some nice tries too so good on them.

But one question remains - why should they need the negativity of the public and the media to play like that?

Putting that to one side, I think the seven changes to the team created a lot of enthusiasm out there.

I thought Adam Thomson was outstanding and debutant Tom Donnelly had a pretty good game. Cory Jane was impressive and even Neemia Tialata did the business up-front.

How nice it is to see a game where everyone just seemed to play well for a change!

Maybe that was because there was just more appliance and less science in the build up to the game, keeping it really simple and just playing the football we're used to.

The other thing is the game was much more of a spectacle than the South African tests. Kicks were used at the right time when territory was needed but otherwise the ball was moved in the hand.

And right from the kick-off when they got the pill and then threw it wide, I knew we were going to be in for a good test.

The error rate on Saturday was excellent, and the accuracy was better. When you're playing accurate footy and winning your own lineout ball then it's much easier to play the game.

And that's what I expect every time we play a test match!

After all the criticism that's been aimed his way I thought Joe Rokocoko played pretty well. He was looking for work and got the ball in his hand quite often and he scored a nice try at the end of the game.

And although Cory Jane had an excellent outing I'd like to see him play at fullback on the end of season tour and give Mils Muliaina a rest.

He's young and enthusiastic but some of the older guys like Mils, Joe and Sitiveni Sivivatu are looking a wee bit tired and they've lost a bit of pace.

And now's the time to inject a bit of youth into the team and see what they've got.

I also think the partnership of Isaia Toeava and Ma'a Nonu in the midfield deserves a bit of a run to see what they can do.

I think they could be a long-term option given both Richard Kahui and Conrad Smith seem to pick up their fair share of injuries.

They're both talented young kids. And Ma'a's in the right position at inside centre. He's just got to learn to kick a bit better.

The try he scored on Saturday was a classic Nonu try. Not many other guys can get that kind of score.

He stepped into it, broke the tackles and carried a couple of guys across the line with him.

And he even held the ball correctly for a change. There comes a time when you've got to learn to carry it instinctively rather than just cupping the ball and maybe Ma'a has finally got that sorted.

At the end of the day the most important thing was the All Blacks answered their critics. Now they've set the yardstick and we've got to see if they can carry it on until the end of the year and go undefeated.

Despite the big win, though, the game wasn't quite the perfect test.

One of the disappointing aspects was the way the scrums went - there were so many resets it just wasn't funny.

For them to be going down like that means they players are not hitting perfectly. And it's a fine balance between hitting really square and someone being dropped to the ground.

I think the answer is quite simple. The referee has to bring the two packs closer together. If the heads are almost touching it would solve a lot of the problems.

I certainly wouldn't advocate any move to de-power the scrum a la rugby league. If that happened we'd lose all our big guys up front and we'd end up putting loose forwards up there.

The other change I would make would be to ditch the law which allows the other team to get the ball when the scrum rotates through 90 degrees.

You want the attacking team to be able to manipulate the scrum so they can take the opposing loose-forwards out of the game.

If the defending team wants to get the ball from the scrum they should either make a strike for the ball or try and push the other team back, not wheeling it.

There's a lot of room for improvement in the scrum area, that's for sure.

So now they've done it once, they've got to be able to put those performances out on the paddock every time they play.

If they can do that week in and week out then we'd be pretty happy, wouldn't we?

One final thing, I hope we see these boys get back into the Air New Zealand Cup as soon as possible.

That will give the players - especially those who have been bit part players like Wyatt Crockett, Aled de Malmanche and Tanerau Latimer - some footy under their belts and they can head on the tour feeling enthusiastic and positive.

So what do you think? Was this the performance we were waiting for? Or are there still a few questions to be answered.

And does this change your opinion on the coaches?

I appreciate all your comments.