Cape Town - New
Zealand captain Kieran Read lamented his side's poor execution in
Saturday's 23-18 defeat to Australia in their Bledisloe Cup Test in
Brisbane.
The home side outscored the world champions three tries to two and although New Zealand were camped inside the Wallabies' 22 in the game's closing stages, they could not secure a late win - something which they have done often in the past.
Read hailed the Wallabies for securing victory and said his side will not win every close Test with a late try.
"Hey look, that's not going to happen every time, that's the thing, you just don't want to put yourself in that position," he told Reuters after the match.
"But I think we just have to give that to the Wallabies, they played really well tonight. Fought really hard, a lot of teams wouldn't potentially have finished the job so all credit to them.
"I guess we'll look back on that game, the Wallabies took a couple of chances more than us and we probably just didn't quite take it."
The result means it was the first time the Wallabies have beaten the All Blacks in eight matches since 2015. The All Blacks' depth was tested as they played without current world player of the year Beauden Barrett and first choice lock Brodie Retallick.
That gave some inexperienced players a chance to stake their claim for a regular spot in the matchday squad but it also tested the All Blacks' depth.
"It's not all doom and gloom for us," added Read.
"The boys that have come in during the Rugby Championship and again tonight have really stepped up, we saw it again tonight off the bench.
"The signs are promising but we'll have a few days off and then look forward to a big tour of Europe."