Ian Foster said the All Blacks will use the days after their record defeat to South Africa to process what happened and improve, but while there is comfort in routine, there remains a danger that this humiliation could dramatically affect what appeared to be an improving team’s confidence.
Because the All Blacks weren’t slightly off as they sought to put the finishing touches on their World Cup preparations, they were out by the length of the Twickenham pitch.
To paraphrase Foster in the wake of this 35-7 setback, if the All Blacks were to miss any trophies this year it would be the one sponsored by an airline for this one-off and unique Test, but the problem is deep down their morale could be so shattered that they fail to achieve lift-off in France.
Having made improvements in their physicality and discipline this year in winning four out of four Tests before this loss, the All Blacks were exposed by the Boks in those areas in the worst way.
It began early when they conceded five penalties in the opening 10 minutes – three for early lineout drives – which led to the sin-binning of Scott Barrett and Sam Cane within minutes of each other and the eventual red card for Barrett.
There was a suggestion afterwards that the All Blacks felt the Boks were throwing their jumper across the lineout, but the first two appeared obvious and a failure to adapt to a referee’s demands is concerning ahead of a tournament that will likely be dominated by the match officials – for better or worse.
Barrett’s absence hurt the All Blacks’ set piece significantly, but their pack failed to impose itself against their fired-up counterparts even before his departure.
Given the way the All Blacks dominated South Africa physically in their victory at Mt Smart last month, and the fact that seven of their eight reserves were forwards, the confrontational approach should not have been a surprise.
What was surprising was, after initially defending extremely well with reduced resources, the All Blacks lost their heads when they were given attacking opportunities.
Ardie Savea and Jordie Barrett were guilty of throwing intercept passes – the second led directly to Kurt-Lee Arendse’s try – and the overall handling skills by Foster’s men were among the worst seen in the four years under his watch.
They appeared caught in a trap constructed by the Boks but sprung time and again by their own inadequacies - their physical limitations affecting their mental state, and vice versa.
The risk of injury or suspension that his high-octane clash represented was obvious. What it has also highlighted again is Foster’s gamble on the mix of his squad of 33 for the World Cup which included an injured Brodie Retallick.
Loose forward Shannon Frizell, who is able to cover lock, travelled to London with a hamstring problem and is also likely to be unavailable for the World Cup opener in Paris on September 9.
Scott Barrett’s judicial hearing on Monday night means he too is at risk of missing the France match, meaning the All Blacks will have only two locks – Sam Whitelock and Tupou Vaa’i - for that Test at the Stade de France.
Josh Lord has travelled as an injury back-up – and earned another cap when coming off the bench yesterday morning – but World Cup rules dictate that the All Blacks will have to drop a player from their squad should they wish Lord to be involved.
Foster and his fellow selectors decided on 18 forwards and 15 backs but could easily have taken an extra lock – Lord, for a 19/14 split - because questions will be asked about how much game time wings Emoni Narawa and Caleb Clarke will have in the knockout matches – assuming the All Blacks make it out of their pool.
Initially, Lord wasn't even travelling as an injury back-up - he made the cut only after an injury to back-up hooker George Bell.
Was this a valuable runout ahead of the World Cup? On balance, yes.
It would have been hugely risky to head into that France game with many of Foster’s best players having not played since the end of the July in Melbourne, and yet questions remain about the detail of his squad and indeed its mental approach when faced with a big and combative opponent.
An optimist may say it could provide extra motivation to get their No.1 priority of physicality right for the France Test and beyond. A pessimist would probably suggest the damage has already been done.
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