If current sentiment is any guide, by the end of this season there will be more silverware in Uruguay’s tiny rugby cabinet than on the once groaning shelves of the New Zealand Rugby Union’s trophy room.

Already, the Dave Gallagher trophy has been whisked off by a hit-and-run French side, who grabbed the cup by virtue of scoring more points than the All Blacks over two tests, despite losing one of them.

In shades of the Rainbow Warrior, the French also managed to put a bullet into New Zealand’s reputation among tourists ahead of its 2011 World Cup hosting by having one of their players concoct a story about being bashed on a Wellington street late at night after the second test.

Otherwise, most of the damage to the All Blacks’ image has been self-induced. Steered alternately by the tentative Stephen Donald and the underdone Luke McAlister, the men (or is that ‘boys’) in black have looked like hapless pretenders to a once great rugby heritage.

Indeed, so creaky have been the All Blacks’ Ivesco test performances that their coming Tri-Nations roadshow pits them as a sputtering Datsun 120Y against the Wallabies’ sleek Aston Martin and the Springboks’ Mack Truck.

Yes, the pitstop is ahead – and there are fresh wheels coming in the shape of tested performers such as Richie McCaw, Conrad Smith, Andre Hore and Sitiveni Sivivatu – but one fears that this season is a write-off already.

After all, the problems in the All Black side are at their fulcrum in the 10 position, which to extend the motoring analogy, is like trying to drive a car when the steering mechanism is faulty.

Succeeding in any elite sport, such as international test rugby, requires not just supreme athleticism, strength and speed, but an ability to make good decisions under extreme pressure and to keep the opposition guessing.

As playmakers, neither Donald nor McAlister provides much confidence that the All Blacks will meet those tests. But since there are no other serious options, the question has to be asked “what else can be done?”

The answer, from this writer’s perspective, is for Donald and McAlister to be frank and realistic about their limitations and to play as accurately as possible within those. When the wheels have fallen off this season, it has been because they have tried to do too much too soon. Donald is no Carter and McAlister is no Carlos, but they play sometimes as if they think they are.

Nevertheless, they are both talented, professional sportsmen, with skills at a sufficient level to be deemed chosen to steer the world’s number one rugby team. They do not have to be Carter or Carlos to get the job done. They just need to do the basics well and build from that.

By basics, we are talking about accuracy in catching the ball, kicking the ball, passing the ball and making tackles. It means kicking goals and taking advantage of opportunities from set pieces and broken play as they present themselves. It also means playing the percentages and kicking for the corners, particularly now we have a functioning lineout.

The forward pack looks good. Even without McCaw and Rodney in the second test against France, there was new talent in the likes of Ross and Read and enough ballast and experience from the likes of Thorn and Mealamu to keep the team in the game.

Now with all the old heads back in the pack, save Ali Williams, there is even less need for overly fancy stuff from the backs. They just need to concentrate, in the first instance, on accuracy in execution.

Great teams are not always those with the best individual players. We surely have learnt that lesson over the past 10-15 years. Look at the many victories engineered by the Wallabies a few years back with a front row that most commentators said was mediocre at best.

The fact is that great teams have the capacity to absorb and withstand pressure, to make the very most of their abilities – however limited - to take the few opportunities with which they are presented and to be prepared to change their game plan if it is not working.

This way, the whole can be greater than the sum of even the most modest individual parts.

Underdog status has been a long time coming. Let us now embrace it.