Aisle Be Back: All Blacks v Boks and NPC kick-off times

Thank God someone has worked out how to beat the All Blacks, because this winning is getting monotonous.

You will probably have read England coach  Eddie Jones' comments by now that he has identified
significant weaknesses in the New Zealand team.

Sadly he won't be sharing what they are until 2018, when the two teams are due to meet, although no doubt a fair few Englishmen will bolster the Lions party Down Under.

Actually I'm prepared to reveal right now how to beat the All Blacks. Essentially it resolves around achieving probably 80 per cent of possession, since no ball, no Beaudy.

This in turn has a few simple ingredients - a top class pack and the ability to hold onto the ball for long periods of time.

Since the All Blacks are quite cunning and adaptive, it also involves having more than one game plan, and the ability to in turn adapt.  But don't, whatever you do, kick the ball aimlessly at the back three.

You also need to be able to run around a lot, for 80 minutes and have a bench of top performers.

So there you have it. Very simple. I am surprised no-one has tried it yet.

The other option is to reduce games to 50 minutes duration to make it fair.

Of course someday, somewhere, an off-key and complacent All Black side will get cleaned out by a good team playing smart rugby. It just isn't on the horizon yet, so we await either the Lions or the 2018 runout model England - and Eddie.

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More news out of the Mother Country that the future of the international calendar could see the end - in the year after world cups - of northern hemisphere teams heading our way.

That would leave a vacuum for our teams of course. As I've discussed before, the post-World Cup year is an Olympic year so Sevens could be one lure for the stars.

Personally I'd rather see it used to take the All Blacks on tour with midweek and weekend provincial games. Yes, I know that sounds ludicrous, and probably only feasible and profitable against South Africa.

I know fans would like it, as we'll discover again in 2017 with the Lions. But if the fans want it, that is probably the kiss of death.

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I think the beleaguered Boks will play their best match of the year this weekend, because they're playing us. The moot point will be whether they can take it as late as the excellent Argentinian side last weekend.

It's sad to suspect that they actually won't last that deep into the match.

I'd also pick Argentina, if it plays smart, to be good enough to topple the Wallabies, but it will be close. 

And all eyes of Christchurch. Ardie's going to have a stormer as the starting No 7. But you already knew that.

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It's obviously a test weekend with the NPC games crunched together even more than usual.

Wellington's clash with Bay of Plenty is starting at 7.45pm, which with a wet forecast, is not exactly going to have fans flocking in. There's an earlier game at 5.45pm elsewhere so this is about TV scheduling.

As I said last week, if you want more people to go, put the games on at decent times. In Wellington, on a Friday night, 5.30pm could attract a few workers to squeeze in some footy before heading home. Ditto anywhere else.

I see the popular kids eat free promotion is on again on this Friday night. But if your little rugby fan is going to catch this game, they'll be getting to bed well after 10pm.

Honestly, I sometimes think it's Sky's plan to encourage punters to stay at home.

Lifelong All Blacks supporter Kev has followed the Hurricanes since they began. This year his faith in them was rewarded when they won the title. Now he’s holding out hope that the Wellington Lions can again one of these seasons too.