Dublin: Since winning the inaugural World Cup in 1987 the All Blacks have turned the saying you can't win the world heavyweight championship without winning the preliminary bouts on its head.

Time and time again they have dominated the intervening years and come up short in the global showpiece but with their 47-3 demolition of France on Saturday with effectively a second string side it looks like this time round the trophy is theirs for the taking.

Certainly based on the other results over the weekend they look to only have themselves to beat.

Australia were pushed hard by an improving Italy, world champions England looked clueless against an effective Argentine side and an impressive Ireland outclassed a relatively inexperienced South African outfit.

Indeed the only problem the All Blacks have is one that several coaches would love to have - who to pick for the starting XV.

"There's a lot of competition for places and that's a very positive thing. It's a good problem to have and selection's not going to be easy," said their coach Graham Henry, who looks to have regained his reputation as 'The Great Redeemer' given to him early on when he was coach of Wales.

"It's now up to the selectors to do their job.

"We could play any number of players in the squad of 22. We've got a group of 32 players and any of them could play," he said.

A frightening thought and one that England's Andy Robinson or indeed France's Bernard Laporte could well dream of.
The latter must be the most concerned of the major northern hemisphere coaches and with the Argentinians and Ireland in their World Cup group the possibility of the hosts crashing out in the first round cannot be ruled out.

Indeed his language after the drubbing by the All Blacks  the second time his side has conceded over 40 points at home to them - suggested he was running out of ideas.

"We were completely impotent. We weren't able to react in any way and we feel very inferior," said Laporte.

Hardly the call to arms required for either his squad or the expectant French fans, who have twice seen their side reach the final only to be beaten.

Laporte can hardly have been comforted by the results of his two main group rivals, especially Argentina, who have been a bogey team for the French down the years and who play them in a fortnight.

"It was very important, this victory, because we can show the world that we are on the same level as the great rugby countries," said Pumas coach Marcelo Loffreda.

However while Laporte will be in situ next year whether Robinson will be is an unlikely scenario, even if the former rugged back row forward is adamant he will be.

"I'm in charge of the England team and there'll be no decisions being made regarding that position," said Robinson, who has just eight victories in 20 tests and has guided England to seven successive defeats equalling the unwanted records of their 1971-72 and 1904-06 predecessors.

If Robinson can take any succour it is that both Irish coach Eddie O'Sullivan and Springboks handler Jake White have been close to the brink before in a sport that displays more loyalty to coaches than the more brutal world of football management.

"England will feel we've been there and probably empathise," said 42-year-old White, whose side lost five straight earlier this year before winning their final two Tri-Nations matches.

"Obviously it is a negative spiral and one starts to think are you ever going to get out of it," he said.

For O'Sullivan it is a case of assessing despite his side's electrifying running play how good the opposition was - one respected Irish pundit described the Springbok side as the 'worst he had ever seen and an embarrassment to the proud rugby history of the team'.

It was summed up best by captain Brian O'Driscoll.

"It was a great performance but we need another one next week. However this is a vital year with the World Cup coming up and we have to keep our feet on the ground," he said.

For Australian coach John Connolly  whose side play the Irish next Sunday  it is not a case of the giants of the game apart from the All Blacks of slipping but the gap between the haves and havenots getting narrower.

"I'm not suprised that Argentina beat England, or that Italy gave us a fight today. These teams are improving all the time," said the experienced no-nonsense coach.

Words of warning for the rest of the game's aristocrats, though, whether the All Blacks need to be worried is a moot point for at this stage the World Cup final would probably merit a clash between the All Blacks first XV against their second XV - that is how far ahead they are.