Coach Ian Foster cut a decidedly more relaxed figure at Saturday's press conference, after his team's 53-3 demolition of Argentina quelled - at least, for the time being - a few of the boo-birds who have been nestling in his vicinity over the past week.
On a miserable evening in 'Tron, The men in black responded emphatically to a week of criticism with their most complete performance of Foster's tenure against the Pumas, washing out the bitter taste of last week's historic defeat at Christchurch with a seven tries to nil mauling of the South Americans.
These were the All Blacks the nation had been impatiently waiting to see - that brutal and trademark blend of skill and power that has scarcely shown its face over the past 12 months.
After another week on the hot seat, Foster - understandably - took immense satisfaction from his team's display, although he refused to go as far as conceding that anything resembling a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
"No. It's the life of a coach," Foster said with a grin. "All we've done is put ourselves back into contention. From a championship perspective, we've still got plenty to do, so we'll roll our sleeves up and get stuck into our work.
"But I'm just proud of the way we've worked hard to get our game where we want it to be. It hasn't happened at the speed we’d like it to, but we saw signs of that tonight.
"There is no doubt the team has felt a whole lot of different pressure … I was just proud of the way the guys hung in there and not got tight under the pressure and played with a bit of ambition."
Perhaps the most pleasing aspect of the win for Foster was the way his side took an early lead and - rather than squandering it as they had last week - put their foots to the Pumas' throats, even further ramping up their intensity.
Foster's decision to stick with the same starting XV that had lost at Christchurch was widely criticised, but that faith was ultimately justified in the Waikato.
"It was a big week for us," he admitted. "We had to respond, and I thought we did it in a really ruthless manner.
"There were a lot of questions about putting the same group out again, but I really believe in the direction we're going and am delighted with the response against a pretty enthusiastic Argentina team."
After last weekend Foster had complained at some of the perceived under-handed tactics employed by the Pumas at the breakdown, which he believed were stifling his team's ambition, he made mention of a different interpretation from Australian referee Nic Berry, allowing the match - and his team - to find a rhythm.
"The read of it was really good early," he noted. "We got reward for it, we got reward for a lot of our ball carries and some of the runs we were making.
"The interpretation at the breakdown was very different from last week and that gave us the confidence to play a little bit more and hence we saw the spectacle we saw.
"If you look back, the first 50-odd minutes last week the tactical response was really good too, but we lost a bit of the vision in our game that last quarter. We've flagged that’s been a big work-on to get the balance right through the game."
Amid a host of outstanding performances from his players - including rampaging hooker Samisoni Taukei'aho, spectacular Rikoe Ioane, and relentless Ardie Savea - Foster reserved special mention for his captain Sam Cane, who had arguably his finest match since becoming skipper.
The flanker was a wrecking ball defensively, heavily involved in the All Blacks' link-up play leading to tries, and omnipresent in the ruck in a performance that may have silenced some of his critics.
"I'm particularly proud of [captainSam Cane] next to me for his week," said Foster, glancing at his skipper alongside him.
"He has been under the pump from various quarters, but I thought he might have answered a few questions tonight too."
The result lifted the All Blacks atop the Rugby Championship standings, giving them a dose of momentum heading into the final fortnight of the competition, when their attention will turn to two tests against Australia.
The Wallabies were soundly beaten by the Springboks at Sydney on Saturday, and two wins from two would likely seal both the Bledisloe Cup and their Rugby Championship title defence.
"This championship is important for us and we put ourselves in a bit of a hole last week," added Foster. "We had to respond and to walk away with a bonus point and a big points differential in a tight competition at least keeps us in the race.
"We'll enjoy that and wake up tomorrow and start worrying about the next one. We've got two to go and we're going to have to have two good performances to have a chance at this championship."
