The performances of elder statesmen Sonny Bill Williams and captain Kieran Read are two of the biggest positives for the All Blacks, following last night's 63-0 victory over Canada in Oita.
While the All Blacks were never expected to struggle in their Rugby World Cup Pool B clash with the Canucks, the 63-0 bonus point win wasn't entirely convincing.
Appearing on TVNZ 1's Breakfast this morning, former All Blacks lock Ian Jones held up the performances of both as reasons for fans to smile this morning.
"There was no injuries [to] come out of the fixture, there was no cards [to] come out of the fixture," Jones said.
"There was some great ball-handling skills at times, great combinations. Great standout performances [from] Sonny Bill [and] Kieran Read -our skip, more importantly our skip's playing well, I thought that was fantastic."
With Williams having struggled for fitness throughout 2019, Jones drew attention to the performance that saw the star midfielder rack up 51 minutes.
And with other, younger, midfielders waiting in the wings, Williams' display came at exactly the right time.
"He's put back to back performances together, and he hasn't done that for a very, very long time."
"You look at the midfielders, they're all playing [in] great form. [Jack] Goodhue going in to the tournament was outstanding, [Anton] Lienert-Brown's been in great form, they love what [Ryan] Crotty does.
"Sonny put on such a big physical performance last night, so they're all kind of in the mix - which is great for the selectors going forward."
The All Blacks' selectors will now have some important decisions, their next assignment now just four days away in facing Namibia in Tokyo this Sunday.
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