In my Super Rugby season preview a few weeks back I suggested the Australian teams could see the heels of the Kiwi teams and, just maybe, they might close the gap this year.
Well, I have to rethink that statement. The gap is as wide as ever.
Don't get me wrong, I have seen some good skills from the Australian teams in games during the past fortnight. Sam Carter's pass to Rory Arnold for the latter's try was outstanding. I rewound it four times to take it in. Carter made it look simple: the catch, turn your head, pass the ball. Pretty to watch. But it's not happening enough, in contrast to the Kiwi teams, who are putting opposition teams to the sword.
Aaron Cruden showed masterful awareness when he summed up the situation perfectly against the Blues. He quickly realised that time wasn't on his side, and understood the ball had to go. He flat-handed an inside pass to his support player, who linked perfectly, and a try resulted.
The thing is, it's becoming the norm from our Pacific neighbours and it's becoming incredibly frustrating as an Australian supporter to watch but, by the same token, you have to sit back and clap.
So why are they pushing themselves that little bit more? What is driving them to even greater heights this year?
I understand there's always jockeying for positions in any national team. Then it dawned on me. The massive carrot dangling in front of those players in New Zealand this year is to make sure they take part in the British and Irish Lions series.
That has to be it. Northern hemisphere teams only arrive on the shores of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa every 12 years, and after the 3-0 drubbing the Kiwis handed out in 2005, not only do they want to emulate what happened last time, I'm sure they want to better that performance.
Dan Carter's sublime display in the second Test would've been watched by an impressionable Beauden Barrett as a 14-year-old. The Kiwis know their history, and keeping that impressive record going against the Lions pushes these blokes at Super Rugby level.
Another subplot for this series relates to what I wrote last week about England's domination of world rugby without having played the All Blacks. No doubt when the Lions outfit is selected, coach Warren Gatland – who knows a thing or two about Kiwi rugby – will look predominantly to blokes wearing white shirts, with a scattering of blue, red and green. So I'm sure in the back of their minds, those English players will see that it would be just reward for a dominant run, getting a shot at beating the All Blacks in their own backyard.
But let's dig a little deeper as well. On that 2005 tour the Lions lost all three games of the Test series, the first time in 22 years that had happened. Don't forget – and I suspect the coaching staff and media especially won't – the tackle on Brian O'Driscoll, who suffered a tour-ending injury, a dislocated shoulder, two minutes into the first Test in an incident involving Tana Umaga and Keven Mealamu. There was uproar from the Lions and their supporters that this went unpunished.
Time has passed and I'm sure the three men in question would have broken bread and made up, but in terms of Lions folklore this will be a motivating tool used to right a wrong.
Let's not forget the army of loyal supporters that are cashed up and will travel – the 16th man – something that will give the Lions a touch of home while touring; a sea of red to balance out the usually partisan crowd in New Zealand. And they will need it as they play the five Super Rugby franchises as well.
I was fortunate enough to play – and win – a series against the British and Irish Lions and I know how passionate these guys from the northern hemisphere get about the jumper, the history and the legacy.
That Lions team of 2001 realised they missed a golden opportunity, but they did gain some kind of revenge 12 years later. However, that was someone else's history, not theirs.
Come June, the eyes of the rugby world will be on what will be a fascinating series to see if the juggernaut from the northern hemisphere can sweep past the men in black.
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