Mealamu - forward effort has to improve

If Keven Mealamu takes the field against Scotland it will be his 362nd first-class game. Photo / Getty

A few lineout wobbles against England, along with the concession of a rare penalty try, will help to focus the minds of the All Black pack this week.

The England team competed well at lineout time at Twickenham - with the All Blacks occasionally doing the hard work in winning the ball in the air only to let it slip - before a collapsed scrum on their line in the final minutes prompted referee Nigel Owens to award the score which automatically made hooker Keven Mealamu think of the week ahead.

"Oh, man. When it happens, you're thinking about today, which is a review day for us," Mealamu said. "We had won the game and I ... wasn't looking forward to Monday. But in saying that, it gives us another avenue to get better. We'll break that down and look at how we fix those things."

As he looks ahead of the test against Scotland, Mealamu cannot help but reflect on his career.

If he takes the field it will be his 362nd first-class game and he will go one ahead of Colin Meads' New Zealand record.

"I've been lucky enough to have some great people around me to help me get to where I am today.

"I didn't even think I'd leave New Zealand," he said as he remembered his rugby start as a flanker for Otahuhu. "A lot of the opportunities I've had have opened up through rugby and the people I've been able to meet have been special. Rugby has been a big part of my life and I'm very grateful for that."

Lock Jeremy Thrush, sitting alongside Mealamu at the media conference at the team's central Edinburgh hotel, said of playing with one of the more durable characters of the New Zealand game: "It's pretty inspiring. I don't want to talk too much about him because he's sitting right here, but it does help you. It makes you step up and you don't want to let them down."

Mealamu has played 120 tests but has come up against Scotland only once - in 2008, his first test as captain.

The test was notable for the players running on to the pitch in almost complete darkness, which made for a slightly different entrance.

"We couldn't run out there like we usually do. When you run out on to a stadium like Murrayfield you want to sprint out of the gates but it was actually lucky the lights were off because everyone was tip-toeing over the [TV] cables and stuff."