Solid lineout performance silences critics

He might have had his hands in his pockets but Steve Hansen gave what had been a growing number of All Black critics a figurative two-fingered salute last night.

Many people had started to question the philosophy of the three wise men leading up to the World Cup, one of rotation and experimentation, but they showed the master plan is on track when the first XV ripped apart Australia last night.

The forwards in particular were hungry to taste Wallaby meat, and it looked like they had taken criticism of their performances in the first three tests of the season personally. There were certainly no signs of complacency, something that had been the subject of a team meeting last week, and the forward display brought back memories of the way they took France apart in Paris in 2004.

The scrum was dominant, although this was expected considering the inexperience of the Wallaby front row, but less expected was the success they enjoyed at lineout time against the much-vaunted Australian model.

They won all nine of their own throws as they varied the points of attack and snaffled one opposition feed, when Keven Mealamu pounced on a loose ball to score.

"When the flak is personal, I think it gives us extra motivation," forwards coach Hansen said. "It's part and parcel of what happens in sport but people certainly have opinions and they like to express them.

"Everybody outside of the team had lost faith in our lineout, thankfully those within the team kept their belief and knew where we were going with it and what we wanted to do. [The scrum and the lineout] were the two things we really wanted to have a dig at them because that's where you get your momentum from. We know we have a great scrum and we just needed to make sure our lineout was tidy. And it was."

Both players and coaching staff admitted there had been a visible step-up in the intensity of the build-up, given the fact it was the first time not only the top XV had taken the field together but the 30-man squad had trained as a group.

"There's no doubt there was an extra edge in the whole camp all week," Hansen added. "Some of that was because of who we were playing and the competition we were in.

"Not being disrespectful to Ireland or Argentina, but these are the games we are going to judge ourselves on. We had to give people a break after the Super 14 if we wanted to have petrol in the tank at the end of this competition. We copped a lot of flak for it but so far we have proven to be right. I'm chuffed because it was a great start to the Tri Nations."

Of course it was not so great for a Wallaby side that came into the game with some momentum of their own after wins over England and Ireland.

Coach John Connolly tipped his hat to the All Blacks but said mistakes by his own side were more crucial.

"We definitely gave New Zealand their opportunities," he said. "They scored four tries and most of them came directly from our mistakes. We can't afford to slip up against opposition of that calibre."