Sky Sport post-match show: All Blacks v Wallabies.
In the immediate aftermath of their first defeat as All Blacks head coach and captain, Ian Foster and Sam Cane took the loss on the chin and refused to complain about the four cards, two of which were red, that drastically altered the complexion of the compelling Brisbane contest.
TheBledisloe Cup is safely locked away but expect the All Blacks to take some time get over their frustrations from the 24-22 defeat at Suncorp Stadium, a result all the more surprising given it came after celebrating a record 38-point victory over the Wallabies in Sydney last week.
"A lot has changed in seven days hasn't it? It's a great example of test match rugby. That's what we love about it; that it throws up games like that after last week," Foster said.
"It's a clear example of why you can never underestimate a team that's hungry and wants to succeed. I congratulate the Wallabies for how they played today.
"It was a very disruptive game, it didn't flow, but there was a massive degree of intent from both teams to play particularly in the circumstances with the cards. They controlled the game better than us and were deserved winners."
Conscious of being gracious in defeat, Foster adopted a diplomatic approach when quizzed on whether the red card shown to All Blacks prop Ofa Tuungafasi in the 23rd minute for his tackle that made contact with a ducking Tom Wright's head was the correct decision.
"It is what it is right now. We'll obviously go and have a look at it but I don't think now is a great time to debate the accuracy of the decisions. We were probably more unhappy with a couple of TMO decisions last week than this week.
Referee Nick Berry, right, awards a try to Australia during the Bledisloe rugby test between Australia and New Zealand at Suncorp Stadium. Photo / AP
"To be fair the way the game went both teams got dealt with the same cards.
"It seemed to jump [in severity] and there were a lot of voices in peoples' ears but it is what it is. Sometimes when you're trying to grow your team you get different circumstance like we got dealt with, and in some ways it's a new challenge for us to try and deal with in terms of trying to stay calm.
"There were large parts I was really proud of our effort. We played with a lot of passion, we applied a lot of pressure, but we couldn't break them the way we wanted to. They hung in there and then the momentum swung around a little bit with some other cards."
Foster admitted Scott Barrett's yellow card with 12 minutes remaining for cynically knocking the ball out of Nic White's hands while off his feet at the ruck was a crippling blow.
New Zealand's Jordie Barrett runs at Australia's Jordan Petaia, left, during the Bledisloe rugby test between Australia and New Zealand at Suncorp Stadium. Photo / AP
"Scooter's one near the end was bad timing for us and put us under immense pressure." Cane, likewise, offered no immediate objections with Nic Berry's rulings or excuses for his revamped team's drop in performance from last week.
"When I think of the game as a whole it reminded me of test match rugby. It doesn't matter if it's 15 players on each side or it gets down to 14, 13, the game is based off building pressure, playing smart, intensity, accuracy," Cane, who produced another standout display, said.
"It's a fast moving game. There's big collisions and every now and then players are going to get them slightly wrong. I don't think either of those cards were malicious or dirty play by any means but they were fractionally off. We spend a lot of time practising perfect technique but in a top sport like this there will be the odd error unfortunately.
"I didn't think we were quite smart enough when we got down, and then I thought we brought the intensity but we lacked the accuracy and those are things the Aussies did really well and controlled the game for large parts."
Foster felt for Akira Ioane, the blindside flanker sent to the bench 30 minutes into his debut test to accommodate the need for Tyrel Lomax to fill Tuungafasi's scrum void. "I was particularly disappointed for Akira because he started his first test magnificently for the first 25 minutes but of course we had to take a loosie off so it's pretty tough with the two experienced campaigners next to him."
New Zealand's Jordie Barrett runs at Australia's Hunter Paisami, right, during the Bledisloe rugby test between Australia and New Zealand at Suncorp Stadium. Photo / AP
The Wallabies were heavily criticised for their poor defence and kicking in their Sydney horror show. One week on, both aspects vastly improved as they found regular success peppering the All Blacks back three, with several spilled balls proving costly.
"I thought we made a number of mistakes when the ball was in behind us – that was frustrating," Foster said. "We didn't deal with the high ball particularly well and that gave the Wallabies an easy out and they were good enough to exploit that and put us under pressure.
"Some of it was simple skill execution that we've got to get better at but it continues next week."
