All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie has praised his side's physicality and work ethic following their 50-19 victory against the Wallabies at Eden Park in Auckland.
The All Blacks' dominant second-half display proved to be too much for the Wallabies as they scored 33 points in the second 40 minutes.
"I thought a quality performance was coming," said Rennie. "I knew we were playing a quality side and in the arm wrestle in the first half, we left a few quality opportunities out there."
After injuries to Ruben Love and Richie Mo'unga during the week, Rennie was forced to shift Damian McKenzie to start at 10, with Beauden Barrett slotting in at fullback.
"He's (McKenzie) such a good player. We’ve lost Ruben and Richie, but we've got two guys who have played 10 over the last few years, and we're fortunate we've got really good depth there."
One area under particular scrutiny after the tour of South Africa was the All Blacks' ability under the high ball.
This aspect seemed to have been fixed since the tour, with a majority of ball being regained by the All Blacks from Cam Roigard's contestable box kicks.
"Cam’s kicking was excellent and allowed us to put more pressure on, and we kicked a bit more off nine than we have been.
"Receiving those kicks is difficult, and I thought our guys did an excellent job of winning in the air or picking up the scraps.
"We talked about a number of areas that needed to be better and saw a number of shifts tonight."
Jordie Barrett was a key part of those successful kick chases, but was also a presence on defence as he attempted 16 tackles in the Test match
"He's been phenomenal all year, and he was outstanding in South Africa - he's taken his game to another level.
"Not just the skill set, but he has a massive engine, his physicality, his defence; I thought he was excellent tonight and it was nice to sub him with 10 to go."
All Black captain Codie Taylor also heaped praise on Barrett for his classy performance at Eden Park.
"He can probably have a six, seven or eight on his back and not look out of place. His actions on the field are world-class, and I think he's the best 12 in the world at the moment."
Despite the win, there are some injury concerns for the squad, with Scott Barrett leaving the field late in the match with a head knock and eventually failing his HIA. Rennie was confident that the veteran lock would be an option for the Sydney test next weekend if he passes the protocols during the week.
A major injury blow was to winger Leroy Carter, as he was taken down in what Rennie described as a 'hip-drop type' tackle by Wallabies loose forward Rob Valetini.
"It didn't look good; it could be a reasonably serious ankle injury."
Although the final score heavily favoured the All Blacks, they only led 17-14 at the break after Wallabies captain Harry Wilson managed to get a late try to keep the visitors in the contest.
"It was a tough end for them, but it was nice to catch up with them post-game. They'll be hurting, but I'm confident they'll bounce back next week."
All Blacks winger Will Jordan managed to get the last try of the night to move his try tally up to 56, but commded the work of his side's forward pack to put them in a good position.
"I really enjoyed watching our big boys in particular go to work. I thought our pack had a real physical edge to them tonight, which laid a great platform," said Jordan.
"As it is with Test footy, it’s not easy out there, and the Wallabies certainly came out in the first half and put us under a lot of pressure, so I was stoked with how we were able to finish in that last 20."
Wallabies coach Les Kiss experienced his first loss as coach of the Australian side and said his team struggled against the All Blacks under the high ball.
"I think they had more accurate kicks. It’s not just the win of the ball; it's what happens after that, and they got on the front foot, and we didn't match them," said Kiss.
"Once they got momentum, it was hard to wrestle it back."
The Wallabies coach used the tackle count to illustrate the All Blacks' dominance in the Test match as his side were forced to make 200 tackles compared to the home side's 144.
The Australian side have an injury concern of their own heading into next week, with centre Len Ikitau going off in the 30th minute with a head knock and failing his HIA.
The two sides meet again next weekend in Sydney for the second Test, with this being their last hit-out before the end-of-year Nations Championship Tests.
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