Graham Henry has some big decisions to make; so does the rugby public.

We have to decide whether the World Cup is more important than the 2009 and 2010 Tri-Nations seasons.

In my view it is, especially as New Zealand will host the 2011 tournament.

The All Blacks must build now with the World Cup in mind. Australia are. Robbie Deans hates to lose so much as a social game of squash, but you can see in his work as the Wallabies' coach that he has his eye on a bigger prize.

I can swallow Henry's comment that the All Blacks are going to lose the odd test here and there, even if former All Blacks can't.

Let's get real. The All Blacks were always going to lose in South Africa, because the Springboks, man for man, are much better now. The Boks pack might be the best assembled internationally since the All Blacks' mid-1990s unit boasting Sean Fitzpatrick, Olo Brown, Zinzan Brooke and Michael Jones. So, it was easy to accept the two losses, even if the ham-handed manner of the capitulation was harder to stomach.

Rookie prop Owen Franks and consistent centre Conrad Smith were the only All Blacks to return home with reputations enhanced.

Some All Black careers are clearly at a crossroads, most notably wing Josevata Rokocoko's. However, it was hard not to feel sorry for Fijian. He has been so hopelessly out of form all season that he should never have been selected.

It beggared belief that Rokocoko remained on the field for the full 80 minutes in Durban. Some coaches would have dragged him immediately after he failed to force the ball in his own in-goal area. Television commentator Grant Fox rightly called it a "brain explosion".

Rokocoko should have been relieved of his duties to negate the South Africans' chief tactic - a barrage of bombs launched in the shaky right wing's direction.

After all, the All Blacks had another fullback on the bench in Cory Jane.

Smart substitutions were an All Blacks asset in the Bledisloe Cup win against Australia. Henry trumped Robbie Deans in that department in Auckland.

Yet, the same All Blacks brains trust got it horribly wrong with their replacements in Durban. Why do they start Andrew Hore at hooker, then replace him with the more dynamic Keven Mealamu? This underpowered pack needs impact from the outset.

Why are they platooning their halfbacks so poorly? Why was Jimmy Cowan dropped for the first South African test after producing his best performance for the All Blacks against Australia? What did that do for continuity or confidence?

But it would be precipitate to push the panic button now. Forget the frenzied call to sack the coaching panel. Coaches make mistakes and this trio is still the best bet to lead the All Blacks to the World Cup crown.

They should not shun short- term help. They have brought in outside help before, so why not invite Fitzpatrick and Brooke to advise on the lineout. The coaches will soon need to make some hard calls on their players.

The All Blacks badly need Brad Thorn's grunt in 2009. But will he still be firing at 36 in 2011? If not, where is the next tough tighthead lock coming from? Will Chris Jack and Ali Williams be as good then as they were in 2003 or 2007? Or do the All Blacks need to blood some new men on the end-of-season European tour?

In an ideal world, Isaac Ross would be doing his time on the All Blacks bench. He's not yet physically ready for the hurly burly of a Tri-Nations test against the South Africa pack. But he's such a great prospect it would be senseless to drop him now. He needs as many tests as he can get before 2011.

The same applies to Owen Franks. We cannot sit back and assume Carl Hayman will still be the top tighthead in the world if he does return from England for the World Cup.

The All Blacks may have to bite the bullet at No 8 where Rodney So'oialo - great player that he's been - is struggling to make the impact expected at the gain-line. So'oialo is still a valuable squad man, but perhaps his best role now is as back-up openside flanker to skipper Richie McCaw.

Kieran Read deserves an extended run as the starting No 8 for the rest of the 2009 season to see if he's the answer at the back of the scrum.

It would be a knee-jerk reaction to bring back Dan Carter for the Sydney test on August 22. It takes time for even the greatest of players to be at their best after long injury layoffs. Just look at McCaw. He has not been firing on full cylinders in his last three tests and wing Sitiveni Sivivatu is also rusty.

It's time to return Sivivatu and Rokocoko to Air New Zealand Cup duty to restore their confidence and bring in Jane and Hosea Gear for the rest of the Tri-Nations campaign.

In fact, every All Black not shackled to the treatment table should play for their provinces or clubs now.

TONY SMITH FOR RUGBYHEAVEN (NZ)