All Blacks coach Ian Foster is impressed with how his team responded in the second Bledisloe Cup test against the Wallabies, but thinks they can get even better,
Foster's men bounced back from last week's draw in Wellington to beat the Wallabies 27-7 at Eden Park on Sunday, needing just one more draw to retain the trans-Tasman silverware, with two games remaining.
The All Black ran in four tries to one and even kept the Wallabies scoreless in the second half, but that wasn't enough to please Foster.
"Are we happy we got a response? Yes, we are.
"We said last week that it was a tough old gig, that the Wallabies played well and whilst we were far from satisfied, it was still a performance that there were some things that went in there that were okay, but we knew we had to lift our own standards.
"I thought we set a marker down of where we need to be as a team in terms of the mental side of the game and the approach to the physicality and speed of it.
"Was it a perfect it performance though? No, it wasn't."
The win was Foster's first as All Blacks coach.
Foster heaped praise on young wing Caleb Clarke, who was arguably New Zealand's best player during the match.
In just his second test and first start, Clarke was influential and the Wallabies players struggled to contain him.
While Clarke didn't score, he set up a stunning try by Ardie Savea and was dangerous running the ball out of the All Blacks half.
"He's an uncomplicated individual, he's got great self-awareness of who he is, he knows what he's good at on a rugby park and he believes in it," says Foster.
"He just wants the ball and he wants to run hard, and it's quite a good thing for us to give him the ball and let him run hard.
"He's taken a challenge off the bench [last week] and done well, and now he's started. I think the whole team will be thrilled for him, to be seeing him running around and enjoying what he's doing, and that's something we all need to be doing.
"I know he and his family will be all proud of his day."
Both teams have a two-week break, before they resume hostilities at Sydney's ANZ Stadium on October 31.
"We've really just started," says Foster. "We've had two tests and probably one performance we're satisfied with, and we haven't won the cup yet."
Join us on October 31 for live updates of the third All Blacks v Wallabies Bledisloe Cup test
