A week of glorious sunshine and associated good vibes in Sydney for the All Blacks has finished in a familiar second-half muddle.
The first question Scott Robertson and his team will be asking as they travel to Wellington for the return Bledisloe Cup Test is: how do they fix the way they finish games in what will be far more challenging weather conditions?
Also, how do they find the ruthless edge they have been searching for all year? How do they merge Damian McKenzie's attacking instincts with a little more control when opportunities are clear and obvious? How, indeed, do they put together a full 80-minute performance for the first time under Robertson?
Because it had all promised so much for the visitors — even half an hour into the 31-28 victory at a sun-drenched Accor Stadium.
The conditions were perfect for the All Blacks to rediscover their attacking mojo against a side low on confidence who had leaked nine tries a fortnight ago, and yet, despite scoring four converted tries to lead 28-7 before 25 minutes were up, they almost crashed to what would have been a humiliating defeat.
Head coach Robertson may privately hang his team's maddening inconsistencies on a lack of experience following the post-World Cup departures of Sam Whitelock, Brodie Retallick, Aaron Smith and Richie Mo'unga, but his starting line-up had almost double the number of Test caps than the Wallabies.
Watch 1News' Andrew Saville and Pat McKendry analyse the game on TVNZ+
So, that won't fly, and while the Bledisloe Cup has been retained for another year, the return match at home isn't quite the free swing for the All Blacks that it could have been.
Jordie Barrett's medial knee ligament injury will likely require a change in the midfield so there may be opportunities for Anton Lienert-Brown and Billy Proctor and perhaps lock Sam Darry and hooker Asafo Aumua, but in no way can this Test be considered a slam dunk for the All Blacks given their up-and-down form and their recent record in Wellington, where they haven't won since 2018.
Joe Schmidt's Wallabies will also travel with a real belief they can cook up something special at the Cake Tin.
The Kiwi coach, a former All Blacks assistant as recently as late last year, was careful not to raise any expectations as far as the Wallabies were concerned this week but behind the relatively downbeat prognosis was a steely resolve and it clearly translated to his players.
Their scrum stood up far better than expected — and a hat tip here to assistant Mike Cron, another Kiwi but a man with a far longer background with the All Blacks than Schmidt.
And while the All Blacks didn't have to try too hard to find space in the Wallabies' defensive line early on, it was a different story after halftime.
Which brings us to McKenzie.
This was a Test in which the No.10 should have controlled from start to finish against a defensive line far less challenging than South Africa's, England’s or even Argentina’s.
There is no doubt Beauden Barrett's illness, which ruled him out on the day of the game, forced the All Blacks to change their second-half strategy.
The plan for late in the game would have been for Barrett to take over at first-five, with McKenzie covering the back field, but if the little Chiefs playmaker can't take control of a Test against Australia that the All Blacks were leading 28-14 at halftime then questions must be asked about his ability as a genuine Test No.10.
He has a special knack for creating something out of nothing — witness his scything break to set up what was a disallowed try for impressive halfback Cortez Ratima (one man who did enhance his reputation) — but McKenzie has also developed what must be an infuriating knack for creating nothing out of something.
Twice last night he blew try-scoring opportunities with a flippant final pass rather than an orthodox one and while Robertson has built a reputation for being a coach who creates an environment where all his players — young and older — have freedom to express themselves, a focus on the fundamentals for McKenzie would be advisable.
The All Blacks, who racked up two more yellow cards for Lienert-Brown and Caleb Clarke, got out of jail but they can't escape scrutiny. And the Wallabies, who will have been disappointed that (the impressive) TJ Perenara wasn't penalised for an apparent high tackle when he effectively killed off the home side’s last possession to force a scrum, will see this defeat as a huge missed opportunity.
A final observation that highlighted the All Blacks' desperation at the end: with a minute remaining after Tom Wright's try was converted, Robertson's men walked so slowly back to halfway for the re-start they must have been close to being penalised by referee Karl Dickson.
Let's call it for what it was: cynical time wasting, and they got away with it.
A penalty on halfway with time still on the clock would have made things even more uncomfortable for Robertson and company.
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