Steve Hansen is generally difficult to please but, other than a head knock to Brodie Retallick, the All Blacks coach cut a satisfied figure after his side clinched a third successive Rugby Championship title in La Plata today.
It's common for Hansen to pick out a specific area of weakness, moment in the match or player who could improve post match. After the 34-13 bonus point win over the Pumas though, he found no immediate faults.
Two tests in the rain had frustrated the All Blacks. They hadn't found their attacking groove since pasting the Wallabies at Eden Park.
On a dry track which encouraged running rugby and in a hostile atmosphere they cut loose, scoring four tries and having one more disallowed. Forwards ran like backs and then there was Julian Savea - the big wing proving why he is the world's most lethal finisher with several displays of Lomu-esque power.
"We're very happy to win the trophy again and happy with the way we played," Hansen said.
"You work all week for your game structures and skills to be shown on the park and we showed a great array of skills and the type of game we want to play. The Championship is an outcome because of those things going well."
Richie McCaw, who equalled Sir Colin Meads' record of 133 matches for the All Blacks, believed securing the trophy would allow his men to simplify their game-plan against the Springboks at Ellis Park next week.
"It's nice not to have to worry about bonus points or different permutations," he said. "It will be a normal South African All Blacks test match and everything that comes with that. That's exciting. We want to go and play well and win."
Hansen praised Beauden Barrett's control and ability to bounce back from a goal kicking perspective - slotting all six from the tee - in his second test start at firs five-eighth along with the strong contributions from Keven Mealamu, who stepped up after Dane Coles flew home for the birth of his first child mid-week, and Nathan Harris' efforts on debut.
"We know he's a good player," he said of the veteran hooker.
"What it shows is Coles, who is not here, has been playing particularly well to keep him out. He's reinforced the fact he's a good player to a lot of people who may have had doubts about him.
"The young guy came on and did well, too. I was pleased with him. You don't get too many bigger tests from a scrummaging point of view. He only had two or three but he did well."
In Malakai Fekitoa the All Blacks now also look to have a player more than capable of covering both midfield roles at test level. That's no mean feat, either. Thrust into the foreign second-five position, Fekitoa made smart defensive decisions, varied his option taking and was a threat throughout with ball in hand.
"It was a great start on that part," assistant coach Ian Foster said.
"This week he trained really well. He was calm as the week went on. He was really clear about what he needed to do and I was delighted for him. His communication was really good. He was single minded about his ball carrying and he added some other nice touches - some nice passes and kicks that perhaps we hadn't planned on but were very good."
Retallick left the field in the 53rd minute after a blow to the head which may force the workaholic lock to sit out the tournament finale against the Boks. Cory Jane also tweaked his hamstring in the warm-u p and was therefore not injected from the bench.
"We'll see how he comes through the next day," Hansen said of Retallick.
"If he passes all the tests he'll be fine and if he doesn't then he won't be playing."
- Stuff
