Despite defeat, All Blacks looking to 'finish the job' against Boks in Cape Town

CAPE TOWN - The All Blacks have settled in comfortably in the Mother City ahead of the second Test on Saturday. 

Assistant coach Jason Ryan said that the team had recovered from the intensity of their 31-27 defeat at Ellis Park.

"It was a good Test, a lot of physicality, as expected, the contest, the collision side of it, the set piece side, tackles made, the intensity, a lot bigger than we had throughout the year so far and we're looking to build on that and the boys have recovered really well."

The All Blacks’ forwards coach said the side had accepted SA Rugby’s apology over the interference with the pre-match haka.

"We've accepted it if the apology's come through and sometimes, in all honesty, you get a bit of chaos coming through and the South African players themselves stood there and respected it, as they always do, and it's probably the officials that need the up cuts but they've made the apology so that's fine."

Ryan believes the team are a few tactical or personnel tweaks away from getting the better of the world champions.

"I think it could be a little bit of both to be fair. You've got guys coming on who've played a handful of tests and some atmosphere, especially at Ellis Park, against the best team in the world, so we're also pretty confident that we're making some progress in our game, we need to be as well, so there's always something to work on."

The All Blacks’ assistant coach revealed the belief was high in the camp despite the disappointing defeat. Ryan said there were a lot of positives to take from the first Test.

"Every Test match is different and this Test match, the collision side of it, the intensity, the physicality, was right up there but the encouraging thing is we showed signs that we can play some footy and that's all we want to do is play some footy and if all goes well then we've got to do that again and keep our game going.'

All Blacks flanker, Ethan Blackadder, admitted that despite the defeat, the team enjoyed the clash at Ellis Park.

"It was a big occasion, the whole spectacle, it was awesome but we're a bit disappointed and gutted we couldn't finish the job and equally we had a lot of fun out there and we're already excited for Saturday."

The 29-year-old believes the first Test was won and lost on small margins, admitting the All Blacks needed to "finish off the job".

"We're just focusing on a few small margins and just about finishing the game - we couldn't quite close it out the way we wanted to and that's what we're striving to do - finish the job."

Blackadder also touched on the mood in the camp regarding some of the refereeing decisions and the haka controversy.

"We haven't mentioned any of that stuff at all in the performance because ultimately the referee, you can influence the referee but you can't control their decisions and that's how its always been and obviously there's been talk about the pre-game haka stuff but we don't mention that, it's all outside stuff."

Blackadder was surprised by the warm welcome the team received upon their arrival in Cape Town and was looking forward to the support they’ll receive from some of the local fans come Saturday afternoon.

"I've heard before I started playing footy that the support in Cape Town, especially, is huge and it's pretty cool to see 50 to 100 supporters screaming and supporting us, it's awesome - makes us feel at home doesn't it? So yeah, we appreciate the support worldwide... we're loving it."

The flanker admitted that he was relishing the prospect of running out in Cape Town and is looking forward to a special second Test.