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Wellington - The All Blacks' 27-16 win over the Wallabies in their Rugby Championship rematch on Saturday left Australian coach Ewen McKenzie fuming at rulings by South African referee Jaco Peyper which he felt changed the course of the game.
He was baffled why no attempt was made to clarify whether hooker Stephen Moore scored a try when he was brought down on the line early in the match, and angered by a foul committed by Kieran Read when Christian Lealiifano was close to scoring midway through the first half.
The All Blacks outscored the Wallabies two tries to one with a 15-point burst just before half-time, changing the course of the game after the Australians had dominated for the first 20 minutes.
"Stephen Moore got over the tryline. I don't know what happened there. We obviously made another incursion and were one metre out and they killed the play," he said.
"We were waiting for something to happen there but nothing happened. You work and build pressure and you either get rewarded with points (tries) or you get rewarded with a yellow card. We got neither."
Both incidents led to penalties which Lealiifano converted to have the Wallabies up 6-0 before the All Blacks switched on their "A" game to take control.
McKenzie stopped short of saying the Wallabies would have won had they scored tries from their limited chances but said it would have been "a whole different ball game".
Australian captain James Horwill questioned Peyper on why he did not go to the television match official (TMO) for a ruling on whether Moore scored, a course of action also recommended by touch judge Lourens van der Merwe.
But the referee said there was no need and awarded a penalty to the Wallabies instead.
"Those sort of things I consider important in a game. Important enough to say it and not pretend it didn't happen," McKenzie said.
"I can't tell you why it didn't go to the TMO. Whether there was something else that went on I don't know. No one said anything. All I know is the touch judge said have a look but it didn't happen."
Despite their strong opening to the match, the Wallabies were eventually made to pay the price for an ineffective defence that saw the All Blacks find gaping holes in their backline.
They were also soundly beaten at scrum time and late in the second half struggled in the lineout as the All Blacks backed up from their 47-29 hiding of the Wallabies last week in Sydney.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen accepted Australia provided a much sterner test of his World Champion side than they did in the first Test and said the difference between the two sides was the All Blacks ability to score tries when they had the opportunity.
"We put them under a lot of pressure at scrum time throughout for most of the game and even in the lineout in the end we started to dominate them on their own throw," he said.
"But, the best factor was the ability to make the most of our opportunities. When we had opportunities we scored tries.
"They created opportunities but other than the intercept they didn't get one. You've got to take the points when they are there in the big games."
Israel Folau scored a late intercept try for the Wallabies while Ben Smith, who scored three tries in the first Test, scored the All Blacks two tries.
The All Blacks further points came from a conversion and four penalties by Tom Taylor and a penalty by Israel Dagg.
Lealiifano kicked a conversion and three penalties for the Wallabies.
