'Start dominating': What Sam Cane told his All Black side during Wallabies' onslaught

All Blacks captain Sam Cane had to lead his side out of a 14-point deficit in Dunedin as the Wallabies dominated the first half with two tries in the first 10 minutes.

The shellshocked All Blacks couldn’t stop the Wallabies early as they strung together the phases to run over the top of them with a mix of power carrying and width.

Cane lamented his side’s ability to control the tackle area and fold around the corner which he described as ‘a bit slow’ in the opening stages.

Standing behind the goal line after Tom Hooper crashed through Damian McKenzie and three other defenders to score, the All Black captain delivered the message to ‘start dominating’ and get the tackles right.

“We were a little bit slow to get set, so they were beating us to the punch,” Cane recalled of the opening period.

“But also our tackle type, we were getting ‘ridden’ and they were getting gain line, it was quick ball.

“We spoke about making sure we got two men in the tackle and start dominating the collisions.”

The All Blacks still couldn’t figure out the right formula as the Wallabies continued to enjoy the lion share of possession and territory.

But last ditch defence by the home side helped prevent any more damage being done.

Two try savers, one on Pone Fa’amausili under the posts and one by Sam Whitelock and Ardie Savea on captain Tate McDermott, stopped the Wallabies finding their third try.

Had the Wallabies got to a 24-3 lead, it may have been enough for the in as the All Blacks finished with 23 points and the visitors added another penalty goal in the second half.

“We didn’t get it right straight away which we’d like to as soon as we address the message,” Cane said of the continued pressure.

“We got there in the end.”

The All Blacks captain was not surprised to see the Wallabies fire out of the blocks even after last week’s 38-7 victory in Melbourne.

The leadership group plan for all situations which “takes the shock factor away” when they happen on the field.

“Going into Test matches you mentally prepare for different scenarios, going over them in your head during the week,” Cane said.

“It sort of takes that shock factor away. It’s not a surprise because you’ve considered what could happen.

“We have good game discussions with our leaders, our game drivers, around game situations and one is being down by two tries early, what if the opposition start really well.

“You don’t allow yourself to think too far ahead, because there is nothing positive from worrying about the scoreboard or what’s going to happen in 10 or 20 minutes time.

“The most important thing is the next moment and winning that one.”

The Wallabies were the first team to put the All Blacks behind on the scoreboard this year. They led 7-5 for 26 minutes in Melbourne while in Dunedin Eddie Jones’ men had the lead for 61 minutes.

The All Blacks raced to a 31-0 halftime lead against Argentina and a 17-0 early blitz against South Africa which they never gave up.

This type of Test match was a “good lesson” according to head coach Ian Foster who explained that they will take a lot out of the experience.

“This lesson is a good one,” Foster explained.

“We certainly put ourselves in a hole, the Aussies put us there.

“When you come out of the other side, you actually learn a lot about yourself, your comms and your trust in what you’re doing.

“I think that’s the biggest lesson to be perfectly honest. The stuff about the start, we can all pick holes in that, we know we’ve got to work on that.

“But I love the confidence of winning a Test that looked like it might go the other way.”