RICHARD KNOWLER IN BRISBANE
Ian Foster delivered a brick bat to Malakai Fekitoa but bubble-wrapped it first.
Unlike All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen, who can be blunt when publicly admonishing players, his assistant Foster took a more gentle approach asked about the backline's defensive lapses in the first half of their 27-25 loss to the Springboks on October 5.
The South Africans were successful in calling fullback Willie le Roux into the backline to unsettle the New Zealanders' set-piece following a defensive lineout and pivot Handre Pollard also barged over from an attacking scrum.
"Two or three times in that first half we were poor in terms of giving them some space from set-piece and it has been a focal point,'' Foster acknowledged.
"It's just a learning curve. Beaudy (Barrett) and Malakai, in particular at 10 and 12, haven't played a lot of rugby together.
"Mal hasn't played a lot at 12 and to be fair we probably got exposed there but they are great young men and have learned some lessons. It is a real learning curve, particularly in that midfield - defensively.''
Losing vastly experienced second five-eighth Ma'a Nonu because of injury forced a break-up of his midfield relationship with Conrad Smith, leaving the All Blacks selectors to choose between Ryan Crotty and Fekitoa for the No 12 jersey.
Fekitoa is more comfortable at centre but the selectors have started him at second-five in his last two tests. Although his defensive reads have been wanting, Foster hinted he may start there again in Saturday night's test against the Wallabies at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium.
When Foster was asked if it would be logical to give Barrett and Fekitoa more time together against the Wallabies, he didn't reject the idea outright.
"It could be ... We still predominantly see him (Fekitoa) as a centre who can play 12 but the fact he has played 12 so well is something that excites us. So we certainly will at some point - it is just a matter of when.''
The All Blacks trained for almost two hours in temperatures closing in on 30 degrees at St Joseph's College today and many of their routines centred on passing drills - a reflection of the team's desire to improve that facet of their game after several inaccurate transfers against the South Africans in Johannesburg.
Foster said the All Blacks' decision to arrive in Brisbane on Monday reflected their mindset. Usually they jet across the Tasman on the Thursday but the coaches recognised the need to get to Queensland earlier and get their players in the right frame of mind.
When the All Blacks drew 18-all with the Wallabies in Brisbane in 2012, management realised the surge of New Zealand fans in the city and around the team hotel were a big distraction.
Arriving earlier, they hope, will allow their men to acclimatise to the situation better.
Like the Wallabies, who only made two changes for this test, the All Blacks appear set to resist the temptation to rest or rotate players.
That's mainly because the All Blacks are still smarting from their defeat to the South Africans and are determined those involved in the loss be given the chance to prove some points.
"We don't make a lot of changes, particularly after a loss,'' Foster added. "You kind of want to give those guys as chance to fix things up so I think they (the Wallabies) will adopt a similar strategy.''
- Stuff