Wallabies fullback Tom Wright has credited some tough chats post-game as the team looks to avenge last week's loss at Eden Park.
The Australians have settled into their base at Olympic Park ahead of Saturday's second Test, with New Zealand already securing the Bledisloe Cup.
Trailing by three at the break, the Wallabies were outgunned by the All Blacks in the second half and went on to claim yet another victory in the trans-Tasman rivalry.
“[The] group came together Sunday morning, faced the music a little bit, had some small conversations before we reviewed thoroughly today.... No one wants to be on the receiving end of 50 points and of a loss, but at 17-14 we were right in the contest. The game was there to be taken and we'd squandered a couple of chances," Wright believes.
“At five minutes into the second half we're about to score, don't score so there's another little opportunity that we didn't take. When the opportunity was there for us, everyone was so excited. We knew the opportunity was there for us to have.
"We felt like all the guns were loaded and we had the ammunition to fire shots to win the game, and we didn't. You can be internally so driven to win and when you don't, that's the disappointment that you've got to face.”
It marks the first defeat under coach Les Kiss, with the team's six game unbeaten streak coming to an end.
“For the most part, a lot of guys in the group are quite seasoned now, so you know that you can be disappointed but you've got to pick up the pieces pretty quickly to be able to move on and give ourselves a good opportunity this Saturday here across the road," Wright said.
“Guys are chomping at the bit again and are keen to get back on the horse.”
The fullback, who scored the opener, believes the side needs to sharpen their second half execution and ability to flip momentum after conceding 26 unanswered points.
“It's a game of moments. We earned the opportunity to get quite close to the line really early in the second half, and we weren't disciplined enough to be able to execute a play, and that was right down on their tryline," he notes, referring to a five metre maul that ended in a penalty to New Zealand, sparking their march down the field for Cam Roigard's try.
“We were pleased with how we started the second half and then a snowball effect of moments. They dictated the physicality initially, I think, in the second half, and moment by moment, [they' got away from us.
“We weren't good enough when we had the ball to be able to sort of claw back the same way that they were doing, dictating their terms when they had it against us.”
