Big questions underpin sport. And questions are all we have after three games of the Tri Nations rugby competition between New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa.
Many of these questions will be answered on Saturday when the All Blacks meet the Wallabies in Brisbane.
Last Saturday the All Blacks beat the Springboks 35-17 in Wellington, which would usually rate as a comprehensive victory, particularly after the All Blacks defeated the Wallabies by 20 points in the series opener.
But in between these two games the Wallabies thrashed the Springboks by a record-breaking 49-0 in Brisbane and looked unbeatable – just as the All Blacks looked when they beat the Wallabies in game one.
Now we have two hot teams in the Tri Nations. So the fundamental question is: can the unbeaten All Blacks beat the Wallabies this weekend?
I think they can. But answering that question is like determining whether light moves in waves or lines; it depends on how you look at it.
The Wallabies made the Springboks look woeful, yet the Springboks had a chance of beating the All Blacks late in the Wellington game. And the Springboks defence was effective against the expansive New Zealanders.
So here is question two: did the Springboks play badly against the Wallabies and well against the All Blacks? The answer is yes. But that is not the full answer.
The Wallabies still had to score a record-breaking 49 points against the Springboks – and they kept them scoreless.
Whereas the Springboks scored 17 points against the All Blacks on Saturday, with fullback Percy Montgomery missing three easy penalties.
But that said, the All Blacks had made eight changes to the team that played the Wallabies, in line with coach Graham Henry's rotation policy.
So amidst these questions, here is the one-and-only answer: don't miss this weekends game.What goes on on the field will provide all the answers we need.
If the All Blacks win in Brisbane this weekend, they will retain the Bledisloe Cup for another year and put themselves in a strong position to retain the Tri Nations trophy as well.
But if the Wallabies win – and they will have a passionate Queensland crowd riding them home – they will be in a position to win both the Bledisloe Cup and the Tri Nations.
In that case, the Bledisloe Cup will be decided at Eden Park on August 15.
And the Tri Nations will probably be decided in the Republic, where the Springboks are certainly a far tougher opponent.
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