True that their forwards were outmuscled but in so acknowledging, the All Blacks coaching and selection panel must also realise that this happened in Sydney last Saturday because Wallabies coach Michael Cheika outthought and outstrategised his opposite number Steve Hansen.
It was also a day when the Wallaby backrow of Scott Fardy, Michael Hooper and David Pocock got the better Jerome Kaino, Richie McCaw and Kieran Read, thus making life difficult for every other All Black on the field.
To make everything worse for the Rugby Championship defending champions, the very players who most expected to shine – Aaron Smith, Dan Carter, Conrad Smith and Julian Savea – all played below par.
So too Sonny Bill Williams, which means most the of the All Blacks backline were off form.
This could be attributed to the wobbly possession they had playing behind forwards who were also dominated at scrum-time but you cannot remember immediately any other Test in which so many All Blacks played poorly and seemingly lacking in intensity and passion.
In the four Tests played so far this year, Hansen has been trying various combinations instead of playing with a settled side.
He has too because he has brought in some new and younger players into the expanded squad as preparation for the World Cup starting next month but herein lies the risk.
Another telling factor could be age. Remember that time waits for no one.
It’s clichéd to say that the battle in rugby is won upfront but wind back the clock four years and you will see that in all the matches they lost or struggled to win, it was because the All Blacks got dominated at the breakdown and in the physical confrontation.
In the World Cup final in 2011, which almost slipped out of their hands, the French backrow of Imanol Harinordoquy, Thierry Dusautoir and Julien Bonnaire had the better game than Richie McCaw, Jerome Kaino and Kieran Read.
It was the same in the thumping 38-21 defeat by England at Twickenham on December 1, 2012, when Tom Wood, Chris Robshaw and Ben Morgan dominated.
Last July 25 the Springboks also played with two openside flankers – Heinrich Brussow and Schalk Burger – plus Francois Louw in the backrow.
They too troubled the All Blacks backrow and while the visitors eventually triumphed 27-20, the luck of playing with no-contest scrums when they were one man down through a sinbin was god-sent to the All Blacks.
And finally Sydney last weekend.
With the exception of that World Cup final, the All Blacks backrow faced a younger trio in all the other matches mentioned above.
There’s no denying that McCaw, Kaino and Read are better than most but having to deal with younger opponents weak in and out can play havoc on your body and mind.
The World Cup is that kind of competition, with a game each week and for many continuous weeks if you keep winning.
Not trying out other players much earlier can also work against you.
Recently someone asked who could possibly take the place of Conrad Smith if the 33-year-old was to be ruled out?
No one could think of a possibility because the No. 13 jersey has been almost exclusively Smith’s since well before the last World Cup.
Another defeat at Eden Park this Saturday would surely ring the alarm bells louder and could be the much-needed tonic for the defending world champions ahead of the big event in England but a win could pose other problems.
If they win and players who were off-form last weekend stepped up and bring along their A game, the weaknesses may be ignored and Sydney’s defeat treated as simply one bad day at the office.
But no one should discount the possibility that the bubble may burst again at RWC 2015.