Rugby: Jerome Kaino - No malice in Sonny Bill Williams tackle

All Blacks flanker Jerome Kaino says Sonny Bill Williams will probably be blaming himself for the 24-21 defeat to the Lions due to his first-half red card but that he is sure the midfielder didn't mean to target the head of Anthony Watson with his shoulder.

Kaino had to leave the field soon after Williams did in the 25th minute for his illegal tackle on the Lions' wing, the All Blacks coaches deciding to take the No6 off in favour of test debutant Ngani Laumape in order to shore up the midfield.

It meant the All Blacks had only seven men on defensive scrums - with centre Anton Lienert-Brown doing Kaino's role on the side when the home side had the feed. The numerical disadvantage clearly left the All Blacks stretched on defence and they were noticeably tired in the final quarter when they usually go to another gear.

"Naturally he'll be disappointed but ... he went into that with the best intentions," Kaino said of Williams. "It wasn't out of malice or anything. I really feel for him. Naturally he'll be feeling it's his fault."

Kaino looked a dejected figure when leaving the field, but said it was for the good of the team.

"For us to be able to get our strikes going we need a full backline," he said. "I knew someone would have to come off and the coaches decided it was me. It was an early [finish] but you have to trust what the coaches see and how they view things.

"I thought the guys played well in the middle stages of the game. It was just the beginning and the end which cost us. We had our opportunities in the game. We'll review that and see how we can capitilise on those.

"It's game on - one apiece. It's why you play the game - for these occasions."

Williams will face a judiciary hearing at 5.00pm today and is likely to receive a suspension. The starting point is two weeks which will mean the All Blacks selectors might have to weigh up starting Laumape alongside Lienert-Brown, with Jack Goodhue a possibility for the reserves bench.

There is unlikely to be any changes among the pack, fitness permitting. Hooker Codie Taylor later confirmed how difficult it was playing with only seven against eight.

"It was bloody tough," he said. On attack [in scrums] we had eight men - we brought a back in - but on defence we had seven and it makes it a lot harder. The boys fronted there and held our own against a good pack. I'm pretty happy with what we did but obviously didn't get the result.

"The heart was there. The boys new we had to dig deep... but they did well to exploit that in the final 20 minutes when they scored two tries.

"They're a great team. They've got a good forward pack and they can throw the ball around. We probably didn't soak up the pressure in the final quarter."

There was niggle throughout this test and after the final - both on the field and in the tunnel, but Taylor said: "It's just a bit of passion, you know? It's Northern Hemisphere vs Southern Hemisphere there's a lot of passion out there, a lot of heart. They showed that tonight with their physicality - you're going to get that at this level."