All Blacks rue tactical errors

New Zealand's coaching staff have admitted they got their tactics wrong last weekend and were outsmarted by Australia boss Robbie Deans.

The All Blacks lost 34-19 in the opening Bledisloe Cup match in Sydney despite having around 65 percent of the ball.

The decision to keep the ball in hand and try and run themselves out of trouble came back to bite them in the final 20 minutes of the match when they were plagued by costly turnovers and handling errors as they tired.

Australia on the other hand employed an effective kicking game and dominated at the breakdown, forcing the All Blacks into errors which they were able to capitalise on.

"I think the coach lost the tactical battle," said New Zealand backs coach Wayne Smith.

"We are learning under the ELVs and I've been out-coached before and I'll be out-coached again, but every dog has its day and I'm working hard to fix up my bits and pieces.

"We did lose the tactical battle because we played too much behind our gain-line. Whilst we made a lot of line breaks - we want to keep those - we want to avoid the ones where we turned the ball over.

"That's all about decision-making and picking when the right times are to go and when the time is right to turn the pressure back on them."

Australia's game plan clearly had Deans' stamp on it and it was evident the months spent fine-tuning tactics for the new Experimental Law Variations at his former team the Crusaders, who went on to win the Super 14 title, had given the Wallabies coach a clear advantage.

New Zealand coach Graham Henry and his assistants Smith and Steve Hansen conceded going into last Saturday's game with only two matches under their belts under the new laws had put them at a disadvantage, although they had talked extensively with the players and the Super 14 coaches to try and get up to speed.

"What we can bring to the table is going to get better with more experience under these laws," Henry said.

"You can study them all you like, you can read about them, you can watch the game on television, you can watch other teams play, but until you go through a period of time playing under these new rules you're not going to cement it all in.

"We certainly didn't last week. Hopefully we've learned quite a bit from that so we can be more competitive this week."

Henry described last Saturday's game as "almost wet weather rugby in dry conditions" because of the amount of kicking being done and said that was the biggest change to the game under the ELVs.

"We had 38 kicks that we received last weekend. In a normal game, I'm guessing, it's about a third of that in the previous laws," he said.

"Because of the turnover possibility at tackle time and with a lot of free-kicks if you don't recycle the ball, sides are not going into those situations so often so they are kicking the ball.

"I would say that's the biggest influence these laws are having on the game. It's become a much more kick-chase game and putting pressure on (that way) than it was before."

None of the trio were prepared to say whether or not the game had changed for the better under the new laws, saying they hadn't had enough time working under the ELVs to make an accurate assessment.

"People say it's modernised the game. It's changed the game. All of a sudden you've got kick-receipts and free-kicks as probably your biggest possession platforms so it's totally different to the formula we've had for the last four years," said Smith.

"I don't know if it's better or worse at the moment. I'm quite happy to be going forward under these laws but we've (coaches) got to get better."

Henry said fans he had spoken to after the two most recent Tests against South African and Australia - both lost by the All Blacks - had enjoyed the game as a spectacle, one of the key reasons behind the introduction of the ELVs.

"The laws have been changed to try and satisfy the fans and to have a more flowing game and have more tries scored and more enjoyment watching the game," Henry explained.

"We (coaches) haven't got there yet. We've been involved in three games played under these laws as coaches.

"So if the changes justify what I've just said and we all come to terms with these laws they could be major changes in the right direction."