Hansen conceded the Wallabies were the better side as they lost to their trans-Tasman rivals for the first time since the Tri-Nations decider in Brisbane in 2011.
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Cheika was pleased with how his experiment of playing openside flankers Michael Hooper and David Pocock in tandem had worked and once again lauded the contribution of the bench, or “finishers” as he calls them.
Asked about his try, White said “it was just a bit of a probe and a bit of luck and that just happens at the end of the game”.
The All Blacks are expected to attack the Wallabies’ new-look and lighter scrum, which has Pocock in the unfamiliar No 8 role and also at the lineout. Hopefully we can get past that.
“Both sides pushed the boundaries and it was a good contest”.
Pocock was spectacularly good against the Pumas, and an unfamiliar number on his back is unlikely to change that.
“I grew up watching the haka and really idolising it as a kid, and standing in front of it …”
All Blacks captain Richie McCaw, who equalled Brian O’Driscoll as the most-capped test player in history with his 141th global appearance, paid credit to the Wallabies, saying: “They took their opportunities. The people who missed the tackles are usually pretty reliable and they’ll be hurting and so they should be”. “These are the moments you have to get right and we didn’t”.
“We were in the game all the way through it, until we had a period there of about 10 minutes where we made some really poor decisions”, Hansen said.
The fact that they did so in spite of a ragged line-out and a wretched performance from scrum-half Nick Phipps attested as much to their own versatility as to the peculiar lethargy of the men in black, who were inaccurate and complacent in only their second defeat since December 2012.
Carter kicked the All Blacks to within a point with his third penalty to become the first player to raise 1,500 Test points.
Toomua produced a big play shortly after replacing Bernard Foley, the playmaker producing a deft short kick behind the defence that sat up for Ashley-Cooper to crash through Ben Smith.
The All Blacks responded with a brace from debutant wing Nehe Milner-Skudder, but the Wallabies showed great mental steel to finish the game strongly. But the Wallabies would not be denied.
Cheika said he was proud of the team’s efforts but was aware of the tough game ahead at Eden Park in Auckland next weekend, which could see Australia win back the Bledisloe Cup they last held in 2002.
“We won’t rest on our laurels”, Moore said. “We’ve got another test in a week”.
“We haven’t won anything yet”.
“We didn’t do anything particularly special, we just stayed in it tonight and that’s what we need to do”.
For England’s pool at the Rugby World Cup next month is beginning to assume a nightmarish complexion, with a daunting match against Wales to be followed on October 3 by a potentially defining clash with the rejuvenated Aussies at Twickenham.
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The Qantas Wallabies started the match placing immediate pressure on New Zealand with a rare mistake by the All Blacks off the kick off.
