All Blacks weren't ready for match - Hansen

A frank admission from All Blacks coach Steve Hansen following his side's 22-19 escape over Ireland in Christchurch.

A late drop goal was needed from Dan Carter to win the match, after the plucky Irish refused to fold, levelling scores at 19-all in the closing stages of the second test.

Hansen says they weren't ready for the match.

"Even though we may well have thought we'd prepared really well, I don't think we had, in reflection. You don't give away stupid penalties like we did tonight if you're in the right zone."

Carter says they failed to match the Irish fervour.

"You have to really build up your intensity each game and I think they did that a lot more than us this week, and really stuck it to us in quite a few areas of the game. I just think it's a huge learning curve for us."

And while Carter was denied the opportunity to be the hero at the World Cup but he's performed in the clutch to save the All Blacks from their first ever test rugby defeat to Ireland.

He's slotted a final minute drop goal to carry the hosts to a 22-19 win over the Irish in their second test in Christchurch.

Hansen's hailing the way the senior All Blacks responded to clinch the winner.

"DC stepped up and showed that he can win matches with drop goals. We didn't get there just because DC drop-kicked it, we got there because we had a plan."

Irish captain Brian O'Driscoll says their performance is the culmination of a week of soul-searching.

"The jersey deserved a bit more from us, so we just talked a little bit about that this week and trying to restore a bit of that back in the jersey. I think we did manage to do that, albeit we fell at the final hurdle still."

O'Driscoll says, perhaps to their detriment, they were looking to play positive rugby when they were 19-all and a man up, with Israel Dagg yellow carded.

"There's no reason to try and just look for penalties. I think we were looking for tries and looking for line breaks. We got one or two half line breaks, you look back on that and yeah, we'll definitely rue the thought that maybe we just needed to play a little bit smarter."

Photo: Zac Guildford (Photosport)