Richie McCaw says it's time to improve on the All Blacks' first two World Cup performances, a resolve which had produced an "edge" at training this week.
The defending champions have yet to put in a quality 80-minute performance at this tournament. They were excellent in the second half of their 26-16 win over Argentina and reasonably impressive in their first half of the 58-14 win over Namibia, but the All Blacks skipper said there is no excuse for rustiness against Georgia at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday morning NZT.
"Performance-wise we need to take a step up and this is the time to do that," he said today. "We've all had a run in the first two games so there's no excuses for not being ready to go. There has been a bit of an edge this week.
"When you haven't played for a while there's always a bit of rustiness. I don't want to use that as an excuse but just those little things are what let you down. Against Namibia last week the guys were trying hard but were making some crucial mistakes that, going forward, we can't afford to let happen."