All Blacks: Dane Coles reveals halftime calmness that got All Blacks home

All Blacks Israel Dagg with Sonny Bill Williams after their win against Australia in the Bledisloe Cup. Photo / Brett Phibbs.

Hooker Dane Coles has revealed the calmness of the senior players and coach Steve Hansen at halftime and deep into the match was crucial in helping the All Blacks in their dramatic come-from-behind victory over the Wallabies.

The All Blacks, down 17 points in as many minutes in Dunedin, clearly just need to get their hands on the ball and try to exert some consistent pressure on a Wallabies team making the most of their chances after last weekend's thrashing.

But the harder the home side tried, the worse it got. Possession was spilled time and again and the Wallabies capitalized from seemingly impossible situations - such as directly from a fast retreating scrum.

There was no panic among Kieran Read and his fellow leaders, however. And with Aaron Smith's converted try after the halftime hooter bringing them back into the match 17-14, the All Blacks felt they had momentum.

"They really gave it to us and put us under a lot of pressure for most of that match," Coles said. "There was definitely calmness but our skills and execution was quite poor. We dropped a lot of ball - just the simple stuff and they got the run of the green and scored some points."

The drama of the first half had nothing on the second, however, with Will Genia and Kurtley Beale scoring tries which put the visitors ahead twice after Beauden Barrett and Ben Smith scored for the All Blacks.

That left the All Blacks needing something special and they delivered, with Read taking the re-start and making the break which led to the brilliant inter-change between TJ Perenara and Barrett for the No10's second try, one which helped the All Blacks to a famous 35-29 victory.

Barrett said the All Blacks knew they could get out of the hole dug by the Wallabies and their own mistakes if they kept the faith.

"We could have easily gone into our shell but we were encouraged at halftime to trust our skills and earn the right to play again and that trust was shown right through to the 80th minute," Barrett said.

"It's just about doing the basics well. Nothing special has to happen, it's just doing what we train, being in the moment and trusting that.

"We always back ourselves right to the final whistle and as long as there's seven points in it we'll never give up."

It was a special match for Barrett, who scored two tries and was accurate off the tee, kicking five from five shots at goal. His opposite Bernard Foley kicked only two from six.

And it was for Coles too, after his battle with concussion which sidelined him for four months this year.

"I was pretty gassed when I got subbed," Coles said. "I thought our reserves were good tonight - better than last week - they really added to the edge and intensity we needed to get the job done.

"It shows the belief in our team - we never give up. When we do things simple and effective we give ourselves a good chance."

While the All Blacks weren't always rewarded for the dominant scrum, the performance of Nepo Laulala, a late replacement for Owen Franks during the week, was extremely heartening.

"He showed a lot of dominance at scrum time and got around the paddock," Coles said. "It's only his second test - so big-ups to the big fella, he showed he can play at this level and that's only good for this team."