What a game! All Blacks and Wallabies play out a sensational 16-16 draw in the Bledisloe Cup opener. Video / Sky Sport
Other than the victory, Wallabies coach Dave Rennie left Wellington with what he wanted.
He wasn't raving about the quality of the performance. He thought his team were relatively poor at the tackled ball and missed a few opportunities to finish. He also wanted to see a bit more patience at times, but the thing he most wanted to see was character.
More than anything, the Wallabies needed to stick a flag in the ground and restore some pride after a difficult last few years. Rennie had picked a young and inexperienced team and wanted them to play with pride, with passion and enough belief to hang in the fight.
He got all that. Probably more, in fact, than he could have wished for.
"We knew we had to defend pretty well and I am rapt with the character," he said.
"I think we are miles away from where we can be. What was going to be important today was our character. We will grow our game. It was never going to be perfect, it was always going to be around the character and we saw plenty of that but the key thing is that we have to back it up."
Michael Hooper reacts after the Wallabies' draw with the All Blacks. Photo / Photosport
Backing up is the other problem the Wallabies have suffered from in recent times. When they did deliver a solid performance or win in recent Bledisloe Cup history, they tended to fall away the next time they played.
There was a definite pattern to things – they would rattle the All Blacks one week and pay the price the next. Fixing that is going to be critical if this series is to remain competitive.
"I like seeing the disappointment of the guys in the changing room," Rennie said. "We are certainly not satisfied with the draw. There is a lot of pride and, talking to these guys for 9-12 months, we have put a lot of emphasis on culture and tried to get really tight.
"Covid helped with that because we were locked away together in Christchurch and the guys couldn't sneak out for a coffee, so we spent a lot of time together.
"We had our chances and they had theirs right at the end. I thought we played with a lot of courage; found a lot of space in behind them.
"The quality of our cleanout wasn't good enough. We gave away 14 tackles and a big part of that was post-tackle."
Like his counterpart Ian Foster, Rennie was also disappointed that there was no drop goal in the dramatic last seven minutes after the hooter.
Dave Rennie's Wallabies drew with the All Blacks in his first test at the helm. Photo / Getty Images
A win would have left his team in a different head space heading into Eden Park and changed the complexion of the series.
But he was eager to make it clear that while the All Blacks haven't lost in Auckland since 1994, it's not a ground that should hold any fears for his young Wallabies.
"We are disappointed because we had a chance today and we didn't take it.
"It is interesting, the All Blacks have a fantastic record there but it is the same size field.
"We don't have far to travel to get there. It's not at altitude and we don't have to fly 18 hours to get there."
