All Blacks coach Ian Foster said their record 35-07 loss in their final Rugby World Cup warm-up game at Twickenham was in many ways a perfect storm.
"We had seven players who hadn't played in four weeks and they needed this game. Our mindset was to go in really hard at it. I thought we looked rusty. It was a game we needed and we'll make sure we use that in a fortnight's time."
"We're confident. It didn't look like that, and I know we got a good spanking, so I'm not hiding from that fact. We're not panicking about that result. We knew we were going to get challenged. It's not the result we wanted. I still believe in the plan."
"We've now got a good test of where we're at. Everyone is in the same boat after this weekend. We've got to use our camp in Germany really smart and go into France and get stuck into what's going to be an exciting World Cup."
"There was a lot of emotion in the sheds afterwards, but we've just got to calm down and say 'That's World Cups'. If you're looking for a dress rehearsal that's perfect."
However, Foster said the fact discipline was the first thing that faltered when the side was put under pressure was the one thing that bugged the coaches.
"We've been making big strides in that. Discipline covers a whole lot of things. How do you deal with a ref's decision you don't quite agree with? How do you respond to that? Some of the decision issues early were over-eager and trying too hard. We can get more clinical in that."
"That's also the discipline area, so it's not just obeying the laws. It's how we execute. If we had been able to counterpunch at that point, it might have been a different game. But in big games, you have few big moments and you've got to get good at them."
