Jason Pine: This is what test rugby in the Capital should feel like

Weekend Sport with Jason Pine

This was a good performance from the All Blacks to wrap the Rugby Championship. A performance that reassured us this All Blacks team has the raw materials to consistently challenge the top sides in the world.

There are some tough test matches to come in November - England, Ireland and France in consecutive weeks - and we'll learn more about them when those matches roll around. But for now, it feels like things are trending in the right direction,

There was more than enough there last night, on both sides of the ball, to feel better about the progress of this side than perhaps we have at other times during 2024.

Wallace Sititi - exceptional last night from a bloke playing out of position in just his third test start. There was plenty of debate when he was chosen ahead of Hoskins Sotutu at the start of the All Blacks season, and I think we can safely say they got that one right.

Will Jordan at fullback - he played there often for Razor's all-conquering Crusaders. Last night was his third straight start there for the All Blacks. The extra space he's got back there, the way he assesses the game in front of him, the way he runs and his elusiveness in broken play, which led to another try last night - there's no doubt he'll become our all-time leading test try-scorer.

He's got 35 in 37 tests now, the record is Doug Howlett's 49.

But his defensive work under the high ball was good too - the 15 jersey is his to lose now.

I'm loving seeing Caleb Clarke get back to the form he showed when he first became an All Black in 2020. He's drifted in and out a bit in the time since, he had that brief dalliance with sevens of course - and he played just 5 test matches last year and only 2 starts, he played just 2 of the 7 games at the Rugby World Cup, and they were against Namibia and Uruguay.

But in 2024, he's become the first-choice left wing. 2 more tries last night and a good all-round showing despite that slightly mysterious late yellow card.

And to Tupou Vaa'i - who's played every game this year -7 of the 9 from the start.

When Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick left, lock was a position where there didn't appear to be as much depth as we would have liked. Tupou Vaa'i has stepped up well and truly - and there's a very real contest between he and Patrick Tuipulotu to partner Scott Barrett in the second row.

And just a word on the crowd - Wellington has been rightly criticised in recent times for not turning up for test matches.

Well last night, they turned up to a sold-out Sky Stadium.

And right across the weekend, there was a different kind of buzz around the city. It's what test rugby used to feel like here in the Capital, it's what it should feel like.

May there be many more nights like that.

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