By now you've seen the All Blacks' win over France, or at least heard about it from someone who saw it. You know the scoreline, 39-12. You've watched the All Blacks' attack absolutely dismantle the French defense. You've had described to you the scrums, which started off horribly and turned into an even contest. You heard about the rucks and the brilliance of Richie McCaw and Kieran Read in that area. But you've paid most attention to Sivivatu, Mils and Jane, who were in blazing form.

That was the difference between this test and all the others I think. The forwards were not as dominant as they have been in past tests, particularly against Australia, Cowan was his usual exceptional self, Carter ran as well as always [when he did], Nonu was his normal rhinoceros persona charging at the line.

But when a deep kick was fielded, it was returned by that player. It wasn't kicked back with a midfield bomb, nor was it spread across the field [a tactic which doesn't work anymore].

Sivi, Mils and Jane backed themselves. And it paid off. You could see their confidence lift [not that it was lacking] as each return reaped more and more reward. Look at Mils try where Sivi faked a kick to draw the defender! The three of them all scored tries in the game, the first time this has happened against a tier-one side since 2003's Rugby World Cup match against France [Mils, Rokocoko and Howlett got a try apiece. For the historians among us, the back three have scored against tier-two nations twice between now and then - Rokocoko, Evans and Sivi against Romania at the 2007 RWC and in 2005, Sivi, Mils and Howlett each grabbed a 5-pointer against Fiji.]

The thing which got to me though was in the final 10 minutes. France would receive a full-arm penalty within our half and take the kick at goal. Why? You'd broken our line throughout the game, only to have stoic defense hold you out from. You'd kept the ball in hand and barely played the territory game.

The answer is obvious, of course. They gave up. Conrad Smith put the final nail in the coffin and the French knew they didn't have a chance. But still - would it not have been good to be the team that does what no team has done for two years [not just under Wayne Smith] and score a try against the ABs? If you don't ask questions of them, you'll never make them crack.

As for Smith, he and Donnelly were my MVP picks for this match. Sure, you had everyone I've already mentioned but Smith's distribution and option-taking were perfect and as Tracey Nelson's stats show, he was a beast on defense. Donnelly I pick because he was consistent. If he wasn't in the first three to the breakdown, he was with the next couple. He had a few useful touches of the ball and was great at protecting it.

Highlights thanks to RugbyDump:

There is a real feeling, rightly or wrongly, that it defines us, this game.

Wayne Smith could not have said it better. For himself, Steve Hansen and Graham Henry, this weekend's match against France will be the way this international season is remembered. Forget all that has come before it - Sivivatu's tackle in Tokyo, the switching 'round of the coaching panel, the brothers travelling the country with a spraypainted rooster, the new sponsorship deal with Telecom, the 'are they rushing him back?' return of Dan Carter, the failure to tell the team the amount of points they needed to beat France by in Wellington, the criticisms of Luke McAlister after his first test back in black, the Mathieu Bastareaud saga which forced the country to look at the social machinations of rugby union and its fans [and whether they've changed over the past two decades], the decision to leave Isaac Ross behind and the withdrawal of players from the Air New Zealand Cup - this season boils down to a mirror image of the first game of the season.

This time, we will be playing on their turf. We will be the ones in white. We will be the ones coming off a successful campaign. We are the ones who are prepared.