New Zealand second-row Brodie Retallick is preparing himself for a massive response from Australia when the sides meet in Auckland on Saturday.
Improving their set-piece results and applying more heat at the ball carry in order to have a crack at the ruck is where Retallick expects the Wallabies to be channelling their efforts in the second Bledisloe Cup Test.
But at the same time there is the challenge for the All Blacks to be better so they could win the races on the inside and get their carry and cleans going to produce rugby like that seen in the second-half in Sydney.
Retallick, who produced a man-of-the-match return to Test rugby said that while the Australian line-out had been going all right, the All Blacks had managed to get into it and put some pressure on them, forcing some turnovers.
“From what we saw against Ireland they were doing really well so we were extremely pleased at how many we managed to grab,” he told the All Blacks’ official website.
Looking at what the Wallabies might do to rectify that area, Retallick said if the All Blacks were in the same position they would probably look to vary their options. But they had a week to turn things around and they would be looking at where to improve just like the All Blacks were.
“We can only plan for what we’ve seen and adjust accordingly,” he said.
Retallick said he enjoyed being back among the Test action for the first time in nearly a year and when playing alongside quality players it meant he could go out and concentrate on his own role.
“As a whole the team went pretty well,” he added.
“We had to fight it out for the first 20-30 minutes, we were under a lot of pressure and then things started to click, people sensed space and called it. It makes rugby easy and fun.”
It helped that he does not like losing little battles in games but he said he does not try to over-complicate the game, for him rugby is about going out and having fun while throwing the ball around with his mates.
And that sensational dummy in the lead-up to his try was just the product of skills work and sensing his marker had moved off line.
“I enjoy it, I enjoy playing rugby, that’s what it’s all about,” said Retallick.
Confirming comments made earlier by scrum-half Aaron Smith about the lack of success from set-piece play, Retallick said the All Blacks are looking forward to improving that for the second Test.