Rugby: All Blacks learn World Cup lessons

The All Blacks will require some soul searching after losing to the Wallabies. Photo / Getty

The World Cup came early. Bledisloe One had the feel of a knockout game - the same intensity and pressure and the same need to take opportunities when they were there.

That's what it came down to. The Wallabies were better at converting the chances they gave themselves. Adam Ashley-Cooper's try was intuitive rugby at its best.

Listen back to Nigel Yalden, Rikki Swannell and Tawera Kerr-Barlow with the highlights of their call of the match.

Matt Toomua saw the space, nudged the ball perfectly and the Wallabies wing had the pace and poise to finish.

New Zealand, on the other hand, created a couple of clear opportunities in the first half and left the points out there. When Nehe Milner-Skudder was set free on the right midway through the first half and caught a few metres short, the line was gaping.

But the All Blacks were left kicking a penalty rather than a conversion and, even though it was relatively early in the piece, it left an uneasy feeling.

There was another chance on the buzzer of the first half - and again the handling wasn't great and nor was the decision-making. Another chance gone and the All Blacks went into the break having looked the more threatening team but only three points up on the scoreboard.

There was a World Cup lesson in that: pressure has to be converted. It's not worth much if the other team can weather it and stay in touch.

There was another World Cup lesson - actually two - in the second half: tackles have to be made. No All Black is going to enjoy the video review of the Sekope Kepu try. It was ugly.

The Nick White try to clinch it will be equally galling. It was one of those tries where everyone was so busy watching the mounting bank of support players that they forgot to tackle White.

"Pressure can create errors, but I think some of it was forced on us by our own decision-making when we weren't under pressure," said All Blacks coach Steve Hansen.

"We just got beaten by the better side on the night. It's an inconvenient reality. It doesn't mean that all of a sudden we have become a bad side.

"I think they played particularly well and thoroughly deserved their win. They out-muscled as at the scrum.

"We have to go away and look at ourselves even though we are hurting. It's not something we have had to do very often but it still sucks."

While there were obvious incidents where the All Blacks failed to execute, Hansen felt there was a 10-minute period in the second half when they made errors that cost them dearly.

"We were in the game all through it but we had period for 10 minutes when we made poor decisions," he said. "Nugget [Aaron Smith] being sin-binned. We turned the ball over when Codie Taylor kicked it through and we missed a bread-and-butter tackle on a halfback. These are the moments you have to get right and we didn't."