‘All Blacks need to up our game’

NEW Zealand may have taken Australia for granted ahead of their record defeat in Perth at the weekend and are determined to show what it means to be an All Black in Saturday’s return match, hooker Dane Coles said yesterday.

The Wallabies romped to a 47-26 victory in the first of two Tests that will decide where the Bledisloe Cup resides for the next year, giving themselves a chance of raising aloft the trophy for the first time since 2002.

The red card shown to lock Scott Barrett just before half-time in Perth certainly helped the home side’s cause but Coles conceded that the All Blacks had simply not been good enough.

“The hard thing to take is that we lacked intent,” Coles said in Auckland, where the return match takes place on Saturday.

“They were really desperate to win and you could see it the way they played. Our physicality and attitude wasn’t where it needs to be.

“They brought a real hunger and were desperate to get the Bledisloe Cup. There’s a bit of soul-searching for the week. We need to find what it means to be an All Black.”

Coles said the All Blacks forwards had been unable to match the physicality the Wallabies brought to the match even before Barrett was dismissed.

“Maybe we took it a little bit for granted if we’re being honest,” said Coles. “We spoke about that. As an All Black, that’s pretty tough to take but we’re lucky we get another opportunity to prove to everyone in New Zealand how much this Bledisloe Cup means to us.

“They had a lot of hunger and were desperate, and we didn’t show that,” he added.

| Reuters