All Blacks: Price paid for simple mistakes

The All Blacks after losing to the Wallabies. Photo / Getty Images

For the first time this season, the All Blacks made mistakes under pressure and paid the ultimate price.

In those electric last minutes, it was hard not to let the mind drift to Cardiff three years ago - the All Blacks under the cosh and unable to think straight.

After defending magnificently for almost 20 phases, the All Blacks forced a turnover deep in their 22. Stephen Donald needed to boot it into the stands.

The All Black defence needed to draw breath so they could set up again. It's also infinitely harder to attack a structured defence from a lineout than it is a broken one gasping for breath chasing a downfield kick.

It wasn't the only lapse. Isaia Toeava missed Kurtley Beale the first time and that was the half chance the Wallabies needed.

Simple mistakes under pressure - something the All Blacks have not been guilty of this year - will need to be eradicated in the next four weeks.

To heap blame on Donald would be harsh, but why didn't he blast it into the empty seats?

That's what made the defeat harder to take - it was in a game played simply for money.

To lose such a record in a half empty stadium in Hong Kong, was a bit like losing your virginity on a one-night stand in the back seat of a Ford Capri. What at first might seem faintly exotic, turns out to be rather crass and all too forgettable in the sober light of day.

"I thought they played some brilliant football early on and we were just hanging onto their coat-tails," said Graham Henry. "We pulled it back, got some ascendancy but we didn't finish the last 10 minutes well.

"It was an outstanding game as a game of rugby and I guess we've been on the winning end of those sorts of games for a while now.

"How we react from this is the important thing. It was going to happen at some stage and it's happened. It's a test of character of the guys and the management team.How we react to this situation will be how we're judged."

Of some consolation for the All Blacks is that it was their fringe players who looked shaky. There might also be some solace in the quality of Australia's performance.

This was their best effort in the Robbie Deans' era and it's a little bit easier to accept defeat when the opposition earn it, rather than are given it. But that failure to kick the ball out?

"It's a test of character for the team and individuals and some individuals will be disappointed they didn't play better and Steve will be one of those," was Henry's succinct assessment of the game overall and in particular the last 15 minutes.