Downcast All Black advocates hard work

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The All Blacks have arrived home with Luke McAlister admitting they were down on confidence but saying only hard work would get them back into shape for the Bledisloe Cup test with Australia later this month.

Graham Henry's team slipped back into the country last night, looking downcast and there was hardly a crowd at Auckland International Airport to greet them.

McAlister, who played off the bench in the two disappointing losses to the Springboks in South Africa, was left to front the media.

He suggested there was no magic recipe to get the side back into the Tri-Nations race where their title defence is looking shaky with just the scratchy Auckland win over the Wallabies to show for their troubles and no bonus points.

The August 22 rematch with the Wallabies in Sydney is now their target and McAlister anticipates some time with his North Harbour provincial side and some tough All Blacks training before then.

"The confidence is a bit down but we have just got to get stuck in and work hard. It's not like we haven't been here before," he told waiting journalists.

After playing tests on three consecutive weekends the All Blacks will welcome the chance to reassess a struggling campaign that hit a new low with their 19-31 loss to the Springboks in Durban where the New Zealand performance was littered with errors.

McAlister is one of several All Blacks who will be in action for their provinces in the Air New Zealand Cup over the next phase. He's looking forward to that after spending the bulk of his recall to the All Blacks on the bench since returning from the English club scene, playing in five tests and losing three of them.

McAlister looks set to see some action for North Harbour against Manawatu at Albany on Friday night.

"Getting game time is the big thing," McAlister said.

"I haven't had much the last two or three months. So getting a few 80 minutes under my belt would be good."

The All Blacks coaching team will also use the downtime to survey their playing options - most noticeably playmaker Dan Carter – and also work on an inefficient game plan and their abysmal lineout.

Graham Henry and his staff will need to repeat the formula they found between the Iveco Series and the Tri-Nations when they used the three weeks break between tests against France and Italy to lift the team's performance against the Wallabies.

But the drop in standards since then has been dramatic and they are now threatening both the Tri-Nations title and the Bledisloe Cup.

The All Blacks must beat the Wallabies away if they are to have a chance of winning a fifth consecutive Tri-Nations title.

They then play the Springboks and Australia in New Zealand with a fourth Bledisloe Cup set for Tokyo in October.

- © Fairfax NZ News