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All black people Head coach Dave Rennie said his side’s second-half response against the Wallabies turned their win into a “quality performance”.
Rennie’s side, who won the Bledisloe Cup for the 24th consecutive season, took some time to get into the competition and Les Kiss’ Wallabies put the All Blacks under heavy pressure.
The visitors had what proved to be key game-defining chances shortly after half-time, but two sweeping saves from experienced playmaker Beauden Barrett halted any danger.
The All Blacks then marched down the field, turning possession into points, putting the game out of reach with 15 minutes to go.
Discussing the win with reporters after the match, Rennie said he was expecting a bounce-back performance from his side after a disappointing 3-1 series loss to South Africa.
“I thought a quality performance was coming, but we’re also playing a very good side,” Rennie said in Auckland.
“So in the first half, I thought we probably gave up a couple of chances and then they scored late.”
Rennie, who has coached the Wallabies for three seasons, highlighted several specific areas that have improved for the All Blacks at Eden Park.
“We did a good job keeping the ball, playing in the right areas. We created good momentum and pressure and benefited from it.
“We’re happy. We talked about a number of areas that should be better coming out of South Africa, and tonight we saw good developments. We’re confident in our ability, and in Africa we felt we just missed key moments. That’s what we did.”
“We won a lot of them tonight. We had a really good head start around training, and we knew the importance of winning here, as well as the Bledisloe Cup. So it was nice to get it tonight.”
The All Blacks coach admitted the 31-point defeat at Eden Park will not define this Wallabies side under Les Kiss, and expects a stronger performance in Sydney next Saturday.
“Yeah, look, it’s a tough end for them, but it was nice to catch up with a few of those guys after the game. Oh, they’re going to be hurt.”
“They’ve had a really good year and I’m confident they’ll be back next week. Look, I’m very pleased with the mindset and the brutality of the work ethic, and it was in the right place.”
