Julian Savea acknowledges team effort - All Blacks vs. Australia   24 Oct 2016

After the pressures he faced midway through the season Savea was praised by coach Steve Hansen for coming through and Savea said he was enjoying his rugby and the opportunities he was getting.

"It is definitely way better [than during the Welsh series in June] and I'm sure everyone else is enjoying it too," he said.

Savea's team-mate hooker Dane Coles thought it was the hardest the All Blacks had been pushed all season.

"It was a tough game, we had to dig really deep for that one. It was a good test of character for the team. I reckon that was probably the toughest Test we have had this year to date. They put us under a lot of pressure and in some situations we probably haven't been in."

The side had remained calm and that came down to the leaders doing their job and keeping the players' minds on one task at a time.

"The scoreboard didn't reflect how tough it was," he said.

Savea said he wasn't sure on whether it should have been a disallowed try for Henry Speight.

"To be honest I wasn't sure if I was going to get there anyway. The TMO call was made and sometimes the rub of the green goes your way.

"I was definitely relieved and pretty happy that they didn't score," he said.

The All Blacks could see the ruling had rattled Australia and it was a case of staying calm and playing their own game.

Coles said Australia had definitely improved through the series and in the first 60 minutes in Auckland they had made a lot of breaks and put the All Blacks under pressure and their scrum and lineout had functioned well.

"They've made huge gains, but we have as well. I thought our bench was outstanding, coming on and adding real impact," he said.

Coles added that his non-try when beaten to the touchdown by Bernard Foley had probably looked worse than it was in reality and he thought Foley had done a good job in denying him.