Bledisloe Cup rugby: Gregor Paul - It was a draw but 'tepid' All Blacks were the big losers

OPINION

In a weird old year the All Blacks made a weird old start to their test campaign and managed to play 80 minutes without winning or losing or indeed giving much of a clue as to what sort of team they are going to be.

That they scrambled a draw was testament in the end to their bravery and resilience and ability to hang in when they were being stretched and outplayed by the Wallabies in the second half.

That they needed to scramble so hard was because they didn't ever get on top of a Wallabies side that was full of good ideas, slick execution and more tenacity than they have brought to New Zealand in an age.

While the All Blacks didn't give much of a clue as to what they are going to be all about, the Wallabies left plenty.

They came to deliver a message that the bad old days of them coming to New Zealand and rolling over and playing dead are over.

And because no one ever quite knows how to feel after a draw, the Wallabies should feel like they lost.

This was a test they should have won. They were the better team, controlled the ball better and they had the All Blacks in trouble.

They just couldn't pull the trigger and find a way to finish them off and that, in the context of the series, could cost them.

The All Blacks, presumably, will review what they did in Wellington and come back better for it.

Finding highlights, good bits that they can keep will be hard but they will see that they produced some extraordinarily good work at the breakdown, where they were able to isolate the Australian ball carrier and get their hands on the ball.

Wallabies' Filipo Daugunu. Photo / Photosport

It was their ability to execute a constant stream of turnovers that kept them in the game as that was their only real source of possession.

The Wallabies held the ball pretty much as they wanted otherwise and ran their phases smartly and physically to get the go-forward they so often struggled to generate in previous tests.

They also had a bit more starch in the collisions, just about held together in the scrum and managed to get by in lineout conditions that were awful.

All of which meant the All Blacks didn't win the physical battle the way they intended. They certainly weren't dominant or fearsome, although their scrum was starting to dominate in the final quarter and exert more authority.

But largely it was a performance without a real core by the All Blacks.

There wasn't enough control or direction. There wasn't enough venom or finesse and really the All Blacks came across as a little vague.

All Blacks left wing George Bridge on attack. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The game was there to be taken. A young and inexperienced Wallabies team exposed to a cruel and difficult Wellington wind should have made to feel like they were playing at the end of the world.

They needed to be taken out of their comfort zone early, made to scramble under a few well-placed high balls and then have the wrath of the All Blacks unleashed upon them. But too few kicks dropped in the right place and too little pressure was put on the Wallabies in the follow up.

It was tepid and maybe the only other plus for the All Blacks was the calm that gripped when they were defending deep in their own territory.

They were being pushed back and pushed back by wave after wave of good Wallabies recycling and retention and yet the All Blacks gave that sense that they knew that if they held their discipline, they would win the moment they needed.

In contrast, the Wallabies had a flow and confidence about them, precisely until they got within touching distance of the All Blacks' try-line.

That was when they started to get a bit jittery and they were as much as their enemy as the All Blacks when it came to converting opportunities.

Having been jittery once and seeing what it cost them, the Wallabies may not be jittery again.