Dylan Cleaver: Coaches' plans undone by poor decisions at bench level

Each time they tried to pull a joker out of the pack they ended up with the four of clubs. Photo / Getty Images

At the risk of sounding unpatriotic, the All Black coaches should take the blame for the loss squarely upon their shoulders.

By going down a pre-determined route with their substitutions, they took their eye off the ball and stopped being the game managers they are paid to be.

To be fair to Graham Henry and friends, they have got this aspect of the game right more often than wrong in 2010. Their use of the bench has been far more sophisticated and successful than their Tri-Nations counterparts'.

In Hong Kong, however, every time they tried to pull a joker out of the pack they ended up with the four of clubs.

Admittedly, their hand was forced by the chest injury to Cory Jane, but by putting Isaia Toeava on the bench they must have known there was a risk he could be exposed. Few doubt his talent, but concerns over his big-game temperament will not have been alleviated by a poor half-hour, low-lighted by his headless-chook attempt to corral Kurtley Beale in the final minute.

Just as damaging, though, were the introductions of prop John Afoa and five-eighths Stephen Donald on the hour. Donald will remain a slow-moving target for his legion of critics and watching him as he stood behind the line waiting for James O'Connor's conversion was to witness a man in turmoil. But did he ever really need to be out there? The idea that Carter's health would have been compromised by leaving him on the field is tenuous. Rugby players risk injury every time they take the field and Carter would later admit he felt good and could have played 80 minutes.

Afoa might not have made the glaring mistakes Donald did, but he was introduced as a scrum was packing and was caught cold. For the first time in the match the Wallabies got front-foot ball from the set-piece, spun it wide, Toeava made a bad defensive read and the match suddenly turned from a 12-point cruise to a five-point thriller.

Until then, the Wallaby scrum had almost reverted to the bad old days, with Owen Franks and Tony Woodcock dominating and forcing a number of free-kicks and penalties. That emphasis was lost when Franks was subbed. Halfback Alby Mathewson's introduction with seven minutes remaining was also questionable given the state of the game.

Jimmy Cowan had been one of the All Blacks' best, is a gritty defender and good at marshalling his forwards - two qualities that would have been useful in the dying minutes.

Henry will point to the fact that they need to see how individuals cope under pressure because they might be thrust into the hot-seat come World Cup time.

At this juncture, you have to think another demoralising loss for Australia, a team shaping as the All Blacks' fiercest opposition in 2011, would have been an infinitely more useful exercise than handing out a few cameos.