Sam Cane: 'Series finale like a World Cup knock out game'

"It's do or die, just like World Cup stuff. It's a good challenge for us. I'm looking forward to it," he said.

Twenty-seven unforced errors, and the lack of discipline in the first half, were disappointing, he said and had been addressed in the week's preparation.

Dealing with the issue of unforced errors, Cane said the wet weather in which they trained at the Hutt Recreation Ground on Tuesday was perfect preparation.

"There's every chance it could be like this on Saturday.

"We're hugely disappointed with what we dished out on Saturday. Credit to Ireland, they played really well, but we need to be so much better," he said.

Taking a more positive line, he said much could change in rugby in seven days.

"We have to make sure we fix that, but the belief is strong, the group is tight, we're together. I don't feel like there's any chinks inside the camp," he said.

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While their fall to No4 on the world rankings has occurred this week, Cane said he hadn't paid much attention to that but the goal of the All Blacks was to get back to the top.

"We've got enough on our hands digesting what happened on the weekend and focusing on this week. Things like world rankings take care of themselves when we're playing well. That's where all our energy is."

Cane said there had been plenty of effort put in by the team. They were 'focused and determined.'

"When we step on the park, we're out here to work," he said.

Small conversations were happening within the team, and no stone was left unturned.

"It's about channelling our emotions in the right way. We're angry and disappointed in ourselves, but there's no point dwelling on that performance too long.

"We have to pick ourselves up and shift the mindset really early to highlighting things we need to get better at.

"That's energising and exciting. Then, we save those other emotions for Saturday night," he said.