Nothing wakes up a side, especially an All Black one, more than an average performance.
All Black assistant coach Ian Foster admits the side has had a sharpened focus in the past couple of days as it bids to forget the scratchy performance of Eden Park and the narrow 20-15 win over England.
''It has been a good couple of days. When you come in off a performance that you are not that happy with, it certainly creates an edge,'' he said.
''I guess in some ways that is one advantage in starting a series in not the way we like - there is certainly no complacency. We are looking to learn from that last game.''
The All Blacks dropped too many passes last week and were sloppy in many things they did.
Many said it was just one of those nights when things do not go the way they are planned, but Foster said that was not a reason to just discard the performance.
''It was just some poor errors in our game. Stuff that we should be nailing at this level. We were not quite as good as we should have been.
''We do not trust it was a one off. If you assume it is not going to happen again then that is called complacency. We have to stamp that out. Clearly, we were not as prepared as we needed to be.
''We are seeing a good response from the group. They are their harshest critics.''
But dropped ball and poor kicking options will not lead the backs off to carry out passing drills and the forwards endlessly hitting the ruck machine.
Foster said players recognised their errors and were keen to get rid of them.
''It is not like they need to go to remedial school or anything. There were some clear and obvious mistakes and they are out in the open. These are very obvious to everyone.
''But there was still a lot of good stuff in that game that we can build on. We just need to sharpen up on those handling issues so we do not turn that ball over so quickly.''
Neither are the All Black selectors likely to make a raft of changes to the starting side.
''If you make wholesale changes now you could create uncertainty and that says we were disappointed with everything. We had a test win over England and we are proud of the test win.
''But there are areas we can get better in. Our job is to figure out how can we improve with the group we've got or do we bring someone else with a slightly different flavour to it.''
Foster, the backs coach, said Highlanders centre Malakai Fekitoa had come into the squad and fitted in well.
''We've just been impressed by the way he has handled himself since he came in. We have given him quite a significant role, really.
"He has also had to look after 12 and that is not a position he has played a lot in ...
''He provided a bit of energy when we needed to change the game at that point.''
Foster said big winger Julian Savea was looking good for Saturday and had increased his training yesterday.
Fullback Israel Dagg was bothered by knee and thigh niggles and that could open the spot for Otago man Ben Smith to play in the No 15 jersey on Saturday night.
No 8 Kieran Read was in a pretty good spot but the only thing concerning the coaches was whether he was in good enough condition to play.
The side has a day off today before the team is named tomorrow morning.
