Wallabies coach Micahel Cheika says a lack of composure in the second half of the first Bledisloe Cup test proved costly against the All Blacks in Sydney.
The match started positively for the Wallabies, as they led 6-0 despite the Kiwis having most of the ball.
But seconds before halftime Aaron Smith scored the game's opening try, and while New Zealand still trailed at the break, that try gave them momentum, and they eventually kicked into gear to run away 38-13 winners.
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The hosts lost eight of their own lineout throws, only winning five, and they were penalised numerous times at the scrum.
Cheika said the inability to retain possession killed any chance his side had of winning.
"There was too much ball given back to the opposition, both from set-pieces and general play," Cheika said after the match.
"We've got to stay at it. When things don't go your way or don't happen like you want them to, you've just got to keep coming and see where it goes from there.
"Even when we made some really good attacking raids in the second half, we tossed the ball away. We should have kept doing what we need to do."
Captain Michael Hooper echoed his coach's thoughts.
"We were really building some nice phases, and it's particularly [disappointing] when you get down the other end and just throw the ball away, not backing what we can do.
"If we held that for one or two phases of play, we were probably walking one in.
"We stifled their attack in the first half quite well. The way we defended was quite good. We put them under pressure, and they spilled quite a bit of ball. That was pleasing.
"The frustration is that we went away from that."
Australia faces a monumental task if they want to win back the Bledisloe Cup for time since 2002. Next weekend's second test is at Eden Park, where the Wallabies have not beaten the All Blacks since 1986. The third test is later in the year in Yokahoma, Japan.
"I believe in my lads a lot, I really do, we don't need to lose to then have to go and try to have to win," Cheika said.
"It's what we need to learn to be better at, keep doing what we know we can do and keep delivering and let the score look after itself."
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