NSW and Queensland have suffered trial game losses in New Zealand, with the Waratahs beaten by the Blues and the Reds going down to the Crusaders this weekend.

NSW was thrashed 40-0 by Auckland in Whangerai, while Queensland performed better against Canterbury in Greymouth, but still went down 26-19.

Waratahs coach Bob Dwyer and Queensland boss Mark McBain were concerned by the form their teams showed, especially with just one more trial game each before the Super 12 competition begins.

NSW was still right in the game at half-time when trailing 0-7, but things got ugly after the break as Blues winger Rupeni Caucaunibuca finished with four of his team's six tries, and Dwyer says his team was guilty of wasteful play.

"We didn't play well at all. We had four virtually certain try-scoring chances in the first half and squandered them all," Dwyer said.

"And if you don't take your points and you squander first-phase ball, you've got no chance of being able to put any pressure on the opposition defence and they've got heaps of opoportunites to put you under pressure and they did that and we struggled."

Dwyer also labelled the side's lineouts as "terrible" and its scrummaging as "average", while saying he will more than likely play regular fullback Matt Burke (pictured) at outside centre again, even though his replacement at half-time, Luke Inman, performed well.

Though Dwyer intends to leave Burke in the new position with league recruit Mat Rogers to be given a chance at fullback, he did admit the Waratahs face little choice but to review Burke's move.

What didn't help New South Wales' cause was the absence of Rogers, who suffered an injured finger during the week in a freak accident when a massage table collapsed and squashed the joint.

The Waratahs also had to contend with a shoulder injury to halfback Tim Rapp in the second half, but the loss can perhaps be explained by the fact that several of their Wallabies, including Nathan Grey, Brendan Cannon, Manny Edmonds, Scott Staniforth and Rod Moore, were left at home.

In the other match, the Reds had a handy 19-7 advantage in the first half, thanks to tries from Richard Graham, Toutai Kefu and Elton Flatley, and a pair of conversions from Flatley, and still led 19-14 at the break.

But playing with the wind after the interval the Crusaders turned the match around, with All Blacks flyhalf Andrew Mehrtens coming off the bench to dictate terms with his superb kicking game.

With Canterbury also dominating the lineouts, they scored a pair of tries on the way to 12 unanswered points and the victory, with Test lock Chris Jack prominent with a try in each half while Leon MacDonald and Mark Robinson also crossed the line to score.

"We can only improve on that," McBain said. "Our defence went very well, but we were our own worst enemies at times."

Fortunately for Queensland they came away from the game with no major injuries, and will play the Blues this Wednesday in Auckland, while New South Wales takes on the Crusaders the night after in Blenheim.

Australia's other Super 12 representative, defending champion ACT Brumbies, will play Wellington B in Palmerston North on Sunday and the Wellington Hurricanes in Hastings next Friday.