The wheels are not coming off. We´ve just hit a big pot hole.

The pool party is over. Some teams, ruing missed opportunities, are off back home. 8 teams remain with big aspirations.

On the eve of officially entering the knockout phase of the competition, it´s not ideal to lose you star player for the tournament. Carter, make no mistake, is a big loss. There is no other like him in the NZ squad. There is no other like him in the world. Inevitably, there is going to be a step down, particularly in terms of DC´s game management. He was a superb judge of what needed to be done in a given time - a raking kick, a grubber through, taking the line on - and that came from experience and that came from class.

Slade has reminded me lately of a rabbit in headlights. This kid is all too aware of the pressure of expectation on him and it´s showing in his goal kicking and it´s showing in his decision making on the field. But what I think Ted should do is sit him down and tell him he is in the squad because he believes in him. It seems he is hedging his bets with Weepu but I prefer that option as a safety option rather than starting Weepu. Why? Because we are not blessed with halfbacks at the moment and Cowan is playing like a donkey would. His passing is laboured, he kicks too much and ineffectually. Put Weepu in at first five and we have Cowan or Ellis to fill the halfback position.

I think it´s better to just say, like DC texted to Slade, you´re the man now for the job. Have faith in yourself because that´s what ABs should have. Because this kid is capable of playing rugby. He has a good kick, he has a good pass, he´s got good pace and he has awareness of pace. What´s letting him down is his confidence and I don´t think that´s being helped by Ted´s decision to shift him to wing or fullback. Give the guy some time. He´s a specialist flyhalf so play him there. Put SBW on the wing if you have to but give the guy a break and give him more game time at first five.

The forwards must go into the Argentina and even more so the SA game with the attitude that we are going to dominate the breakdown. Like the French game, they have to blow the opposition off the ball and bully them across the park. Get front foot ball and then suddenly you give the young kid some much needed extra time and space to make the right decisions. Get ball disrupted or slow ball and then it´s easier to place pressure in that area. Hopefully Woodcock recovers from his knock to the head for at least the SA game and then we should have our number one pack playing together and hopefully with purpose and menace. Put Weepu inside and on the outside the experience of Nonu and Smith and hopefully the physical presence and brilliance of Dagg, Jane and Kahui and there´s a lot to like about the side.

So it was never going to be easy. And now it´s been made a lot harder. But this is still the ABs, we´re playing at home and we have a lot to be confident about. It´s not like there isn´t a team out there that doesn´t have some focal point of weakness to attack. A strength of ours has been removed but that´s an opportunity for another part of the team to improve their own strength and work as a team to nullify said weakness.

I still have every faith in the boys. There are 3 tough games ahead but I´m confident of victory. Don´t write the ABs off yet. You never take the field thinking you´ve won against the ABs. You take the field thinking you can win. There´s a big difference. To beat them, you have to play well. There are teams that can do that, but those very teams can be beaten by the ABs. So bring it on. This is the game we love. These are the moments you cherish as a rugby fan, when the nerves are there and you know you can end up being on the losing or winning side. I´ll be there cheering the boys on waiting to find out. kia kaha

We'll trade you a fly-half for a hooker

I´ll gladly give you A. Hore roddersm. Just make sure it´s Sexton you give us in return.

Actually I was planning on giving you Paddy Wallace......

Deal´s off. You can have Corey Flynn. That way he might actually get a game.

Corey Flynn eh....well at least he sounds Irish....

I´m sure there´s an Irish gradmother he can dig up... not literally of course.

How about this trade: Stephen Jones for Israel Dagg?

I reckon Slade's break and pass to put Guildford in the corner was total class. Add the touch line conversion and I swear if DC had done that, the world's media would be drooling. The missed tackle was poor, but the vision to see Guildford streaking up on his periphery, and the execution and timing of the pass were utterly perfect.

What did he really do that was so wrong? Had a kick charged down, missed a few shots at goal? put in a poor pass to Ali Williams?

It's not like DC was never charged down and the pass to Williams was poor, but Williams butchered it after initially collecting it. This has been a feature of William's game rather than Slade's. Poor goal kicking, (the peerless Steyn aside) has been a tournament mainstay and we didn't call Carter or any of the other guilty kickers "rabbits in the head lights".

I thought NZ tried to do too much from too deep against Canada, but I'm not sure this wasn't a game plan.

Slade will get better with each game, but I agree he needs to feel the team, management and country are behind him and not just on his back.

Bowie wrote:How about this trade: Stephen Jones for Israel Dagg?

Id be happy with that deal...

Or Mils, or Cory Jane.

We'll trade you Wilkinson for SB-W - I can see Flood, Williams and Tuilagi creating lots of opportunities for Foden and Ashton, while you get a 10 with world cup winning experience (even if he can't goal kick with these balls).

More seriously, obviously losing Carter is a big problem, but if one team can compensate by the other guys upping their game, New Zealand should be the ones to do it. Slade may not have much experience at this level, but he does have Nonu and Smith on his outside and the best back row in the business in front of him, so at least has the opportunity to shine. Still think you are the guys to beat, but I admit the chances of you being beaten have increased (a little).

I've been wondering how we'd have felt in 2003 if we'd lost Wilkinson in the pool stages. "Gutted" is probably the answer. I really don't think we'd have won without him.

But where we had some good players in key positions, this AB squad as usual oozes class all over the pitch. Putting in someone comparatively inexperienced just means the players either side have to take a little more responsibility. After all, new players come into sides all the time for one reason or another. And surely you aren't saying NZ has only one decent fly half in the whole country????

chuckle. Mind you, I bet the Argentinean camp just got cheerier!

DC is peerless, it's not that there is only one decent fly half in the whole country, it's that there's only one sublime first five in the world, and he just got injured.

NZ lost captain Andy Dalton in 1987, and didn't look back.

There's a difference between being the reserve first five, unpopularly rotated into the starting line up and being the first choice starter. The whole country is behind Slade now, and I think he'll deliver. He's showed moments of inspired genius amongst the few rough moments. Every second on the pitch is a learning curve and he'll soak that up and get better and better.

The best thing about this is that it throws opposition analysis of AB strategy into total disarray. They'll have no idea where we'll be coming from now.

It's also relieved a huge weight of pressure from NZ, as we're no longer seen as the team to beat. I hope they go out there, enjoy playing in the world cup at home and let the chips land where they will.

I'm sure they'll do us, and themselves proud.

As usual, it's hard to see who can stop the ABs.

But on what we've seen so far, I think the two sides that can both wear green. Not so much because they can counter what you can do, but because I'm not sure you can counter what they can do. SA are good at this sort of game - you know as well as me what they can do when someone salts their porridge!

And if the Irish get to the final I think you'll see an Ireland you've never seen before. I think the Aus win meant that much.

I´d have to disagree with you there. Ireland have a great chance next year with a 3 match series of claiming their first scalp and may well get a chance this tournament (let´s hope!). But I think we´ve managed to contain them when they´ve given their best. I think if NZ gets to the final, then the sheer joy of being there again might actually see them lighten up rather than tense up. I see the semi final as the BIG game because I do think the Boks, if they play to their potential and we don´t play to ours, can indeed do a number on us.

The boys are saying we need to win for Dan. Need to win for Christchurch and the earthquake, need to win for the mining victims, for every greedy, whiney AB fan. But most of all they need to win it for themselves. I get a sense that this injury might bind this group even tighter together and will make them a formidable unit (especially in the sense of being united) to come up against. This injury means that much...

I think that it is very sad for Dan Carter. The best player of a generation. He has maintained his high standards for years and he (along with McCaw) is the player who most deserves a RWC winning medal in his drawer. As an aside, it is widely regarded in this neck of the woods that Nick Evans is the second best 10 in world rugby. I am not suggesting that he should have been called up, as you guys need to stick to your guns regarding eligibility for the national team, or the player drain would be enormous. I am just reminding folk that NZ have turned out more than one current world class 10.

I think NZ remain the favourites for the tital. However, there are some worrying signs. I get the feeling that the Bok are building nicely, and play such a physical game that they could stop anyone. Also, if Ireland play with intensity, they are good enough to beat anyone on their day. They have a backrow that oozes power, pace and class. BUT, the All Blacks should do it. My England............... I think that we are good enough to beat the French, could beat the Welsh, but with Ireland, likewise, if they play with intensity we cannot live with them.

Slade should be fine.

Unless he breaks his jaw for the 7th time this season.

Bring back Brown!