Beauden Barrett and Aaron Smith weigh in on Thursday's performance against the Wallabies. Video / NZ Herald
The comedown from retaining the Bledisloe Cup has been sharp for the All Blacks after a brutally honest review laid bare their soft defensive errors and mental lapses that could easily have handed the Wallabies victory in Melbourne.
While the All Blacks recorded their first successive wins of the yearat Marvel Stadium, their patchy performance continued the frustrating theme of their inconsistent 4-4 season.
When Jordie Barrett claimed the match-winning try, following French referee Mathieu Raynal's dramatic decision to punish Wallabies playmaker Bernard Foley for time wasting at the death, the All Blacks celebrated the famous escape.
Four days on, though, and that immediate euphoria is replaced by the stark reality of blowing an 18-point second half lead.
Drilling down to identify the reasons why they clocked off from the 57th minute mark to almost blow victory formed the focus as the All Blacks begin preparations for the rematch against the Wallabies at a sold-out Eden Park this Saturday.
All Blacks playmaker Beauden Barrett, who could shift from the bench to start at fullback in a reshuffled backline, noted the pointed honesty of Monday's review, particularly around the poor defence.
"There were some shots fired in there," Barrett said. "It's a good opportunity for us to look at ourselves in the mirror and our preparation after getting too complacent after getting a lead like we had.
"There's a few boys that are a bit scratchy at the moment which is great. That's where you want to be on a Monday, not feeling comfortable at all with plenty of edge in camp. There's a lot to work on. We clearly didn't put an 80-minute performance together on Thursday night so that's going to be the challenge this week.
"It's reassuring that when we do what we train we can play really well but we can't allow ourselves to have mental lapses that gift them easy tries and the ability to make it a contest down the stretch. We shot ourselves in the foot, we gave up a comprehensive lead, a lot of it was individual errors or mental lapses."
The All Blacks react after conceding a try against the Wallabies. Photo / Photosport
Aaron Smith came away from the review with the overarching message that the scoreboard cannot dictate the mentality the All Blacks adopt, suggesting their skill execution and discipline invited the Wallabies back after they should have been shut out.
Aside from amending their second half malaise, the chance to claim the Rugby Championship title, and play their final test at home for the year, is driving the All Blacks to deliver significant improvements.
"That review was pretty honest for some people," Smith said. "It made you look at your own mindset around when we did score that third try. A lot of those points we scored were when they had 14 men so we need to look at it really honestly. When it was 15 on 15 it was pretty level. Going into Eden Park with the Rugby Championship it's massive, it's a final. Being part of a game like this is very special."
In the wake of the Foley decision, Barrett acknowledged all kickers push the boundaries in situations where it is advantageous to shave time and protect the lead. He also welcomed the wider debate about eradicating cynical efforts to slow the pace of the game.
"You're always aware of the referee they're the ones in charge. Yes, you play the game a bit – you run down the clock to wait for the warning and then you kick the ball out or play on. If the ref asks us to get on with it, we do.
"As a fan you don't want stoppages, you want to see a free-flowing game. Fitter players should be rewarded by less stoppages and keeping the ball in play. It's a better product of rugby. That suits me and New Zealand rugby so hopefully we're trending in the right direction."
Beauden Barrett during an All Blacks training session. Photo / Photosport
With David Havili (head knock) and Quinn Tupaea ruled out this week, the latter for the remainder of the season, the All Blacks are expected to move Jordie Barrett from fullback to second five-eighth after he filled that void in Melbourne, with Roger Tuivasa-Sheck likely to come off the bench at Eden Park.
"I thought he went really well," Barrett said of his younger brother's audition at No 12. "It's a position that's not too foreign to him. He played there a lot at school and for Lincoln, Canterbury and in the under-20s so he's very capable there. I don't know what it'll mean for this week but he has some desire to play there."
If that comes to pass the elder Barrett is likely to slot in at fullback, the position he filled last week after combining nicely in a dual-playmaker role with Richie Mo'unga.
"Sometimes I do crowd him a little bit too much, naturally, so it's giving him that first receiver priority and I'm getting better playing off him but I really enjoy it."
As for the ugly Darcy Swain incident that ruptured Tupaea's knee, the Wallabies lock will front the judiciary where he is expected to receive a lengthy suspension after Sanzaar deemed he should have been red carded for targeting the lower limbs.
"I feel for Quinn because he's going to be out of the game for a long period of time. He basically didn't see it coming, he was a sitting duck. It was a free shot. I'm not too sure what's happening in their camp with Darcy Swain but we don't like to see these sorts of injuries."
