By Matt Burrows
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika is ruing a poor period of defensive play after going a man down early in the second half of their 41-13 loss to the All Blacks.
Australia had Quade Cooper sin-binned and conceded a penalty try after a high tackle on Aaron Smith, before conceding twice more in the 10-minute period that followed.
"We didn't manage that period well, and obviously that hurt us," Cheika said. "We went down to 14 men in a game previously in the [Rugby] Championship and we managed it better."
Wallabies skipper Stephen Moore cited the All Blacks' intensity and counter-attacking ability as the big differences between their performance in last night's match and the previous week.
"We would have the ball for a period and then a little error or spill out the ruck and they're on the attack, get it through the hands and score points," he said.
Cheika had a much more simple reasoning for the gulf in quality between his side and the All Blacks at Eden Park last night.
"We didn't improve from last week's performance and the opposition did. The margins are like that when you go away from home, and that's what happens."
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