All Black coach Graham Henry praised his team's performance on Saturday night but admitted it was easier playing against a side which played rugby.
In a not too subtle dig at South Africa, Henry said the side enjoyed playing a team which had the same mindset as his own team.
"South Africa are a pretty good side, the best in the world at the moment, and no disrespect to them. But they do not play a lot of rugby. Tonight you saw two sides who wanted to play a game of rugby. And that gives a different spectacle. Our guys really enjoy playing that sort of football," Henry said.
He admitted New Zealand was under huge pressure, knowing if it lost it would be the first All Black side to notch three losses on home soil in a season.
Henry felt the team responded to that by playing particularly well.
"We just got more structure and got good first-phase ball particularly off the line-out and scrum. That gave us structure and something to work off.
"We defended well and met them in the tackle area. There were some big games from the forwards and the three loose forwards in particular."
Henry also praised the patience of his side.
"We didn't make the same sort of errors out there but then we were not under the same pressure."
All Black assistant coach Wayne Smith was proud of the backline's performance, and said players had shown improvement over the last five weeks.
He praised Isaia Toeava's performance, and felt he was coming good at this level.
The centre ran hard, and also gave the All Blacks another kicking option on the right-hand side, Smith said.
Winger Cory Jane was also looking good, and he put his hand up again, Smith said.
All Black skipper Richie McCaw said the team had always kept faith in its line-out and said things that went wrong against the Springboks in Hamilton were not major and could be easily fixed.
He said the side never panicked and once it got good ball it knew it would be fine.
Wallaby coach Robbie Deans was disappointed with the urgency and intensity shown by his side.
"The margins are very small in test rugby. You've got to earn your stripes in this game. I think we got a bit ahead of ourselves, looking at the next job when the first job had not been done," Deans said.
Deans said the side struggled at the breakdown, and could not get any continuity into its game.
He admitted the side had taken a step back from its last game at Brisbane when it had beaten the Springboks.
He dismissed the notion he should have used more reserves, saying more than one player was needed to change the game.
