Steve Hansen: 'We got seduced by the scoreboard'

All Blacks midfielder Anton Lienert-Brown. Photo / Brett Phibbs

It is the All Blacks way that on a night when they scored 54 points in a breathtaking attacking blitz, they will focus as much in the coming week on the not so impressive final half hour they produced in Sydney.

Rarely have the All Blacks managed such contrasts - playing within the 80 minutes, some of the most and least impressive rugby in a decade.

"The first 50 minutes was probably as good rugby as you will see and the last 30 wasn't," said All Blacks coach Steve Hansen.

"The last 30 minutes wasn't what we wanted it to be. We didn't arrest the error rate and they just kept coming at us.

"It will give us something to really focus on for Dunedin and it won't do us any harm. We got seduced by the scoreboard and went away from the fundamentals from what we wanted to do."

There is a case, as Hansen said, to be made that the former contributed to the latter. It's a common problem when teams deliver such a comprehensive and match-winning blast early, they switch off a little bit, feel that the hard work is done and think it will all still happen for them regardless.

Would the All Blacks have been so loose, so disjointed and so out of touch in that final half hour if they felt there was a genuine possibility the Wallabies could still win? Would they have thrown so many 50-50 passes?

Probably not, but then Hansen wasn't buying such a soft justification for the second half turn off.

He wanted the foot on the throat for the duration. He wanted for his side to maintain their standards and for the bench to come on and add something. Instead the rugby became loose, complacent and error-strewn and instead of destroying the last semblance of confidence the Wallabies may have had left, the All Blacks did their level best to breathe hope back into their opponent and allow them a 30-minute period which has set Australia up well to be more competitive in Dunedin.

It was a period in which the Wallabies gave a strong reminder of their ability. They can play when they have the ball and if they are allowed to.

Those four second half tries should serve as a warning to the All Blacks that they simply can't be that loose again because they may not get away it again.

Still, despite the disappointment and frustration of the last half hour, the All Blacks were thrilled with the tries they scored and the way they put a difficult week behind them.

"Rugby is always going to have moments where you are not happy with what is going on but ultimately it is all about Saturday. It doesn't matter what sport you play, motivation is internal and we did nothing different this week to what we always do."