All Blacks: Passing the character test

Kieran Read scores one of two converted tries in the final quarter that doomed the Wallabies. Photo / Getty Images

Character. All Black coach Graham Henry used the term three times as he searched for a description of the All Blacks' latest Bledisloe Cup escape in Sydney.

The supremo reckoned he was "stoked" about the come-from-behind 23-22 victory which increased the All Blacks' hex against the Wallabies to 10 successive wins. Their streak of 15 consecutive victories against all opponents goes back to a loss to the Springboks last season.

The word "character" was apt because the quality of performance on Saturday night was pretty mixed.

The All Blacks made many mistakes, were troubled in a number of areas and lacked any great fluency as they tinkered with their selection lineup. And they still won. Not convincingly, but they claimed the win and crucially maintained the swelling pressure on the Wallabies.

That is the point about any test: the result.

The All Blacks knew they had clawed their way to another fortunate victory.

Meanwhile, down the corridor at the ANZ Stadium, the Wallabies would have been going through lists of questions about how they let another chance go against the All Blacks. They had all the worry beads, the All Blacks could drink to their clean sweep of the Tri-Nations campaign.

They had been rusty, they did not settle until deep into the test as they fought to find some rhythm, pattern and method to break down the tenacious Wallabies.

If Wallaby coach Robbie Deans had been shown banging on the window in the coaches' box in frustration in previous games, he must have blown a valve when he eventually reached the safety of a quiet room on Saturday night.

Left wing Lachie Turner had a try rubbed out when he stepped on the touchline, Matt Giteau kicked just three from seven shots at goal while the Wallabies could not defend a 13-point lead in the final quarter as the All Blacks scored two converted tries for victory.

This was a test for the Wallabies to win, once they built their lead and got to the final quarter. Instead the All Blacks told one another this would be their game. Richie McCaw led the way with a questionable try, then his strongman offsider Kieran Read barrelled over. Piri Weepu kicked all his attempts and the All Blacks were home by a point.

"One clever play by the All Blacks was the defining one," a chastened Deans said. "On the McCaw try, he detached early. That's fine, it is nothing new. They are smart and good luck to them."

Soweto and now Sydney - the All Blacks have gouged out victories when they have been attacked hard and not played well. On Saturday night, they built the pressure in the last quarter as forwards coach Steve Hansen got a different approach from his pack.

"We left the middle open for too long and had been going side to side. Then the dynamics changed," he said.

The side had been scratchy after a three-week spell, Hansen admitted, saying they maybe deserved a 6.5 rating out of 10. But he said the All Blacks could celebrate their success.

The only downer was a calf muscle tear for hooker Keven Mealamu, an injury likely to remove him from rugby for the next month at least.

Defence coach Wayne Smith was not satisfied with his department and accepted the All Blacks had not been on their game for much of the test. Young fill-in first five-eighths Aaron Cruden had a big future, Smith said, but had found the test difficult.

"Perhaps for the first 50 minutes we did not execute," McCaw said, after captaining the side for a record 52nd time. "When it came down to getting things right, the guys that you expect to do that were the ones that did, and that is what I see as pleasing. And the guys who have not been through that experience before, can follow on.

"It's not rocket science, just being on the same page and doing it well."