All Blacks undergo 'honest review' of defeat

All Blacks lock Brodie Retallick says the team have had a 'honest review' following Saturday's Rugby Championship defeat to the Wallabies in Sydney.

The 27-19 loss was New Zealand's first since 2011 against the Wallabies. It means Australia will snare the Bledisloe Cup for the first time since 2003 if they win or draw at Eden Park on Saturday.

It was Retallick's first defeat against Australia in 10 outings and just his second in the black jersey since making his debut in 2012.

Retallick said the side have reviewed the Sydney loss and said it's easier to pick things to work on after a loss.

"It's been a good, honest review and just like the other week we've got a few things to work on before the weekend, Steve's pointed them out. It's a new training week and we'll look to do it.

"I think after a loss it's easier to pick out the things we didn't quite get right and every week we try and look at that but I guess we got a few more things wrong in the weekend. But there was also some good patches. We're going to have to get them right for the weekend.

Retallick said winning the breakdown is vital if the All Blacks are going to continue their 33-match winning streak at Eden Park.

"We need to get our roles right around the breakdown and react when we're not in our structure and just playing rugby.

"That's an honest reflection. It's something we've talked about but it hasn't happened.
I think everybody is taking it personally and it's something that we haven't got right and it's been a problem. If you need to react and clean the ruck, we need the people to do it."

Retallick added the Wallabies played a smart gameplan.

"They played pretty smart and I think it came down to that."

All Blacks loose forward Liam Messam didn't play in Sydney but after running the water duties said the side need to step up their physicality.

"We just need to be a lot more physical, it's pretty simple. The Wallabies were outstanding in the breakdown and we got beaten to the punch so it's pretty straight up and down [that] as an All Black pack we need to be a lot more physical."