Aaron Smith on the All Blacks’ missed ‘opportunity’ against Italy

Before a word was spoken, Kieran Crowley said it all as the coach sat down at Friday night’s press conference after Italy's disastrous 96-17 loss to the All Blacks in Lyon.

With a frustrated sign and a quick glance downwards, Crowley was visibly disappointed as the Azzurri were caught on the wrong side of a “statement” win by New Zealand.

Halfback Aaron Smith scored a first-half hat-trick as the All Blacks ran riot against a helpless Italian outfit, with the New Zealanders taking a commanding 46-point lead into the break.

But they could’ve been better, at least according to Smith. The All Blacks were kept scoreless for almost 10 minutes to start the second term, and conceded a try, in a major shift to the Test.

Smith, 34, was left feeling a “bit grumpy” as one of the senior players in the squad after the sluggish start after coming out of the half-time sheds.

“I think as a player you’re just thinking about winning, trying to get a win,” Smith told reporters.

“I guess it’s a statement but as a player, you’re still looking at things we could have done a lot better. I’m just thinking of that 10 minutes after half-time that we let them squeeze us a bit and our discipline slipped and our energy was a bit low.

“We were able to get the momentum back but I’m an old boy and a bit grumpy with things like that.

“There was a huge opportunity there to probably send a bigger statement and we still sent one but it could’ve been bigger.”

Thousands of passionate Italian supporters let out a deafening cheer as wing Ange Capuozzo crossed for the opening try of the second term.

During that 10-minute period, the All Blacks looked like a shadow of their first-half selves, but it didn’t take long for them to make amends.

Tries to Brodie Retallick, Dalton Papali’i, Damian McKenzie, Will Jordan, Anton Lienert-Brown and a double from Dane Coles saw the New Zealanders soar towards a century.

While the All Blacks fell four points short of what would’ve been a headline-grabbing ton, they’re in control of their own destiny ahead of a final pool play clash with Uruguay.

“We had two weeks to prepare for one game and there was a lot of nervous energy and pressure and intensity at training last week in Bordeaux,” Smith added.

“Then another week based in Lyon and a good week at training. Really wanted to have a clear plan, we had a week to prepare, and then just simplified the week around getting our bodies right and minds right.

“It was definitely a nervous energy and edge when we ran out, you could feel it and the Lyon crowd were amazing, the stadium was an amazing arena.

“It was good to put a performance like. There were definitely key things in Bordeaux we were trying to implement tonight and it was good to see a few of those come through.

“We know what’s coming and we’ve got another tough game on a short turnaround against Uruguay so we need to get our bodies right, stay grounded, and take the learnings from tonight.

“Italy still caused us a lot of pressure on their attack and their phase and we need to clean that stuff up. When the scoreboard ticks up a bit we’ve still got to be a lot more ruthless with offloads and stuff like that.

“Also, you’ve got to be grateful for the performance.”