Rugby: Brilliant Beauden Barrett answers the critics in All Blacks' Bledisloe Cup win over Wallabies

Beauden Barrett of the All Blacks celebrates scoring a try. Photo / Getty

A couple of things became increasingly evident as the All Blacks at first dominated and then were forced to dig pretty deep to subdue Australia in Yokohama tonight; the class of Beauden Barrett and the importance to the team of Brodie Retallick.

That Barrett is the best first-five New Zealand is clear but he probably needed a big performance for his own peace of mind as much as anything else as Richie Mo'unga continues to snap at his heels.

The naming of Damian McKenzie as fullback and second playmaker was a concession that Barrett has been given a tough time recently by South Africa, who denied the Hurricanes player both time and space in Wellington and Pretoria.

He needed a big one at Nissan Stadium but he also needed a little help and McKenzie probably provided that with a second kicking option in the front line and a certainly a different sort of attacking threat for the Wallabies to attempt to contain.

One of Barrett's greatest attributes is his extraordinary pace and we saw it here big time – first with a run (and typically good hands) after the break which had the Wallabies scrambling and needed an excellent Bernard Foley tackle to stop, and second with the finishing of Rieko Ioane's break down the left. It was a classic Barrett try.

His through-the-legs try assist for Ioane's try was another classic of its type.

But he was brave too and the All Blacks needed that on defence because the Wallabies' ability to cut through with inside passes, and the apparent ease with which their pack put them on the front foot, stressed Steve Hansen's men and at one point early in the second half it seemed a Boks' comeback of Westpac Stadium proportions was on the cards.

Regarding the latter; enter Retallick and his return has come at just the right time for an All Blacks pack which appears to be creaking a little.

The world's best lock took to the Nissan Stadium pitch just after the 50-minute mark in what was his first game since the test against the Pumas in Nelson last month.

Perfect timing? Just about, because the Wallabies were getting it a little too easy. It wasn't necessarily that Retallick made a huge impact but what it represents for the next big tests against England and Ireland.

The Wallabies had built momentum from their converted try to Sefanaia Naivalu just before halftime and have form as far as comebacks are concerned.

Up to that point, it was Ardie Savea who was dishing it out defensively and at the breakdown. Liam Squire, just back himself from injury, looked a little short of a run but Savea is in the form of his life and he was ably assisted by first Retallick and then Matt Todd, Squire's replacement, who tackled like he has just been given a new lease of life as far as his All Black career is concerned. Which he has.

A word too on hooker Codie Taylor, who has started the last 11 tests for the All Blacks and is probably due for a rest but is playing like he is only a couple of games into the season.

His development this year in Dane Coles' absence has been remarkable and he too was crucial as far as the All Blacks' defence was concerned as Steve Hansen's men made it a Bledisloe Cup clean sweep.

His fourth-quarter push on replacement hooker Silatolu Latu, to which Latu responded with a push to Taylor's face, was probably unnecessary, but even that worked out for the Crusaders man, the Wallaby sent to the sinbin at just the wrong time for his team.