The All Blacks were busy Thursday weighing the lessons of a hard-fought 25-16 test win over Samoa at the start of their buildup to the team's Rugby World Cup defence.
The test match in the Samoan capital of Apia on Wednesday was the first of five the New Zealanders will play before their opening World Cup match against Argentina at London's Twickenham on Sept. 21. The world champions have two tests against Australia and others against South Africa and Argentina in the four-nation Rugby Championship before their title defence begins.
Coach Steve Hansen, who was made an honorary Samoan chief at a two-hour ceremony on Thursday, said the All Blacks' performance "wasn't as good as we were hoping for" but he expected a significant improvement before the World Cup opener.
The All Blacks were knocked off their game Wednesday by the ferocious tackling of a Samoa team which achieved its best result in six tests against New Zealand.
But many other factors impinged on their performance — they were playing together for the first time this season, and they were missing 17 players from the Hurricanes and Highlanders teams which contested last weekend's Super Rugby final won by the Highlanders.
Hansen issued a tacit warning to several players when he said the match had shown those who could perform under pressure and those who couldn't. The All Blacks current squad of 41 will be reduced to 30 for the World Cup and the players who showed vulnerability under pressure might be the ones who struggle to make the cut.
"We had a lot of guys put under pressure," Hansen said. "A lot of them coped with it and some didn't. We got answers there."
Hansen was disappointed the All Blacks weren't able to produce a more structured game, but said it was unusual for so many players to enter a test after long layoffs.
"We badly needed the game and what we got from a scrappiness point of view was what we thought we'd get," he said. "But part of that ... was because of the performance of the Samoans. I thought they played pretty well."
As Hansen weighs the good and bad aspects of the All Blacks' performance, he can count among the positives the fact his team got through an intensely physical match without serious injuries. Lock Luke Romano ended the match with one eye closed but x-rays allayed concerns about a fractured cheekbone.
Also among the positives were the performances of stars Richie McCaw and Dan Carter, who produced strong performances after moderate seasons in Super Rugby.
Among the negatives, Hansen will have some concerns that senior tight forwards did not step up as well as they should have to combat the physical challenge of the Samoans.
This content appears as provided to The Globe by the originating wire service. It has not been edited by Globe staff.