New Zealand rugby

Both sides had trouble adjusting to the new laws in Bledisloe I © Getty Images

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Adjusting to new scrum laws was a matter of time and All Blacks hooker Andrew Hore felt the next few weeks would be vital in gaining an understanding in how best they could be applied.

The new laws at the engagement were a "work in progress", Hore said, but if the scrum was to remain part of the game it was something that had to be undertaken.

Lessons were being learned and there were some niggly aspects to the changes, especially scrum-halves not putting the ball in straight, but Hore felt the longer the laws were applied the better teams would get.

"Scrum trainings have changed a little bit because you can't bang out as many as you used to because there's a lot more load on the legs. It's just something we're trying to get used to," he said.

Hore joked that he hoped the lack of impact at the engagement might keep front rowers in the game longer.

"It's got to be better on the neck if you are not having the hit as strong as it has been. We've been battling away doing the same thing for 10 years and a change overnight is a little bit hard and hopefully we can get into it in the next few weeks and we can get some good scrums and get the ball to the backs, who everyone comes to watch."

There was a need for more flexibility in hooking the ball, as opposed to the former style of walking over it, he said. Hore said with the 2015 IRB Rugby World Cup in mind that looking ahead was about not taking things for granted. You had to earn the right to be in the All Blacks every week.

"I think that is why Kevey [Mealamu] and I keep going and challenging each other as hard as we can. We don't look too far ahead we just make sure it is a battle each week to wear the No.2 jersey, then obviously do what you can if you wear No.16. That's something that's been going pretty good for the last 10 years," he said.

Mentally Hore felt up to the task of playing through, but physically he felt he might benefit from taking up the sabbatical option after the end of year tour. That was mainly so he could take things quietly over a summer to ponder his life after rugby.

Hore said helping younger hookers learn facets of the trade was beneficial to older players because it made them sharpen their own act up. He said it would be nice, in the future, to sit back watching games and realising he had been involved in helping his successors learn something about their craft. Previously there had been a reluctance to give up secrets but rugby was a squad game now and that was probably a factor in why the All Blacks were going so well, he said.