Closure?

Probably not; the post-match analysis immediately focussed on the same team, same venue angle.

But that was special from the All Blacks; as mentioned earlier in the week they were going to lift for this and played it like it was their final. When they are in the zone like that they are hard to stop.

It was close to being the perfect performance. Dominant in set play, the lineouts in particular and, most tellingly, superb when it came to taking the chances that kept on coming.

Almost all of the players with the question marks over them during pool play came good here. It was just the kind of game for Jerome Kaino; the harder they tackle, the harder he tackles back. Aaron Smith was back to is uncluttered best, and Carter took the line a few times; the set-up for Savea’s first try was a thing of beauty.

The real light-bulb performance was from Julian Savea. He was everywhere; not just finishing tries but doing the hard yards too. And the pace has returned.

Joe Moody looked good too. The romance of the late call-up continues.

Predictably, the general in the backs was Nonu. His burst past three French players in the first minute set the tone for the match. He ended up putting in more tactical kicks than Carter.

This performance was much like that semi-final in Cape Town in 1995. But when legendary pundits like this start chest-thumping you have to be a bit worried.

Name me a better side on the world

— Mike Hosking (@hoskingonzb) October 17, 2015

Next week there is a game against South Africa. And you can predict that, following the puch / fist incident in this match, that McCaw will get even more attention than normal.