Aisle be back: The Streak

So about 9.30 this Saturday night, the current All Blacks will hold the world record for consecutive tier-1 test match victories.

Now I know 2016 is no year for predictablility, but it would be trite to trot out the usual cautionary line ahead of Eden Park. This is the fortress, and there are none of the other potential landmines that have derailed past streaks - such as a tired team, playing away or on neutral ground, and facing competitive opposition.

The Wallabies will probably turn up for 50 minutes like everyone else. It might even get a little tense. But that's about it.

It's a sign I guess of the times that the measure of this team is moving from traditional titles won to such things as streaks. It's a pretty remarkable change and I guess I'll never warm to it in the memorable way that say, winning the first-ever series in South Africa is seared in the memory banks.

I also can't shake the feeling that as superb as this team is at times, it's at a time of an otherwise mediocre world game. Man for man, is it really so that this is our best ever side? I struggle with that.

But it certainly is the best put-together squad that I can remember, and when in the zone, the most brutally efficient and mistake-free.

So with all those highlights, I still weirdly hanker after some lowlights. A free close calls. As they say, be careful what you wish for - 2017 is not that far away.

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Best wishes for the Wellington Lions as they head into this weekend's home semi. I confess that owing to personal circumstances, I haven't seen much of them live this year, so it's hard to know what they will produce at the business end.

But there's been some promising signs, and no NPC side has proven invincible, so it's anyone's to win.

I am very glad to hear however that the competition won't be (I hope) a guinea pig next year for rules changes. It's not fair on players or fans.

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I said 2016 was unpredictable. Personally, I have found this very much so, having spend three weeks in Wellington Hospital after a heart attack. One quadruple bypass later, and here I am recuperating at home.

Besides living to tell the tale, thanks to the wonderful skill and care of the cardiology surgeons, doctors and nurses at Capital Coast Health DHB, I am proud that I managed to limp out of a bed to catch the Durban test live.

There is after all, life and death, and the Bokke.

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.