All Blacks legend and selector Grant Fox has hit back at suggestions the national side didn't 'want' victory badly enough in their Bledisloe Cup opener against Australia.
In their first post-COVID test match of the year, New Zealand barely hung on for a 16-16 draw in Wellington, raising questions over the new coaching set-up and selection of players out of position.
Both teams had chances to win over a frantic nine extra minutes, when they both spurned drop-goal opportunities to chase a decisive try.
While the result can be regarded as a moral victory for new Wallabies coach Dave Rennie, it wasn't the outcome counterpart Ian Foster hoped for from his first game in charge of the All Blacks.
"We were very flat afterwards," Fox has told Sky Sports' Breakdown. "Disappointed.
"It wasn't what we were looking for, but the Australians weren't looking for that either. Both sides came determined to get first blood and neither of us got that, so we go around again at Eden Park on Sunday."
Confronted by former NZ teammate John Kirwan over the team's 'want', Fox bristles with indignation.
"I think that's an unfair comment to suggest they had more 'want'," he insists. "We had lots of 'want'.
"You have to respect how well they played. It didn't mean we didn't want it - we did.
"I thought our boys did really well, much better this time than in Perth last year, I can assure you.
"This was a new group, new coaches, first test of the year... we didn't get the result we wanted, but we didn't lose either."
New Zealand were outclassed 47-26 at Perth's Optus Stadium last year, before turning the tables on the Wallabies 36-0 in Auckland the following week.
Before the coronavirus pandemic shut down world sport, the All Blacks were scheduled to face Wales and Scotland in home tests, which traditionally provide a gentle tune-up for Bledisloe Cup and Rugby Championship later in the year.
Without those fixtures, Fox claims Australia have proved a tougher proposition for a coaching staff still stamping their mark on their squad.
"Where do you want to sit watching footy?" he muses. "I want to be back here, knowing the result... we win.
"But people who want the contest should be careful what they wish for, because you don't always get what you want. You can't have the contest and the outcome all the time."
Join us at 4pm Sunday for live updates of the second All Blacks v Wallabies Bledisloe Cup test
