KEY POINTS:
The All Blacks suffered a comprehensive loss in Sydney.
That was no narrow defeat, to the point that claims they were denied a penalty try were irrelevant.
More than anything, they struggled with the pace of the game against Australia.
How do you fix up so much in
seven days? For a start, the All Blacks must regulate the pace of the match because by the end of the first Bledisloe game, they had run out of petrol.
It's going to be difficult, because this All Black squad is locked into having only one second five-eighths, Ma'a Nonu, who doesn't have a kicking game.
It is putting all the pressure in that department on Dan Carter, and that makes life tough.
If Robbie Deans was coaching the All Blacks, he'd have someone like Tim Bateman in the No. 12 jersey.
This All Black side keeps losing the game of forceback.
Leon MacDonald is an option I suppose but I'm in favour of specialists, so that leaves Nonu.
We don't appear to have the players who make good decisions when the game is played at such high speed.
Australia had the strong kicking game while we lacked structure.
I doubt whether Nathan Sharpe would have taken a quick tap at a penalty the way Ali Williams did, and I doubt that our locks of the past like Gary Whetton and Andy Haden would have either.
What can be done?
The loose forwards were dysfunctional. For a start, Rodney So'oialo should return to his specialist place at No. 8. As for Sione Lauaki, he had a shocker and quite frankly, has run out of lives.
Piri Weepu has to join the squad with both halfbacks in major doubt, and the injury situation means someone like Jamie Nutbrown could also come into the reckoning. Nutbrown is a decent footballer, good at the basics, and remember that he was the Chiefs starter during the season.
As much as anything, the All Blacks need to hang on to the ball. I noticed sports psychologist Gilbert Enoka was listed in the match programme, and he might be the name you turn to in these situations. But it's the Gilbert football the All Blacks should treasure more highly.
* John Drake was in the 1987 World Cup-winning All Blacks.