Scott Robertson acknowledges All Blacks' finishing problems

After consecutive losses to the world champions and in the Championship's last four games, the All Blacks haven't scored points in the final quarter.

âœTest matches are about finishing on top and finding a way to do it," Robertson told allblacks.com"Our next step is to find a way and win the line in front of us. That's our focus. It's something we're addressing constantly. It's in the front of mind and we need to see it on the field. We've got to be better there."

Robertson congratulated South Africa on its win and on how it took its opportunities when in the All Blacks' 22m area.

"We've had our opportunities and created enough, but we just haven't finished them.

"We're talking about being proud of all our efforts, how much we care and what we did physically. But the black jersey demands the best of us in finishing those things we've created.

"So, there are small margins in Test footy. There were some great things to see and there's some great young players coming through, but not the result."

It wasn't all bad news. The All Blacks showed South Africa was only one pass away from being broken several times. There were more turnovers against them than South Africa was used to.

"No one has scored four tries against them in years."

Robertson said the Springboks do well dealing with pressure. Once they get inside the opposition's 22m area, they convert.

"We defended stoically for long periods of time, and they just found a way to get over. We put a massive amount of effort into that this week to make sure we could defend it, and they just found a way."

While results are important, Robertson said that over the next 18 months, his job is to create enough depth in all positions with in-squad competition to get to the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia with a squad capable of winning.

It was a balance of trying to beat teams like the world-champion Springboks and giving young players opportunities while getting experienced players into form was part of that.

Loose forward Wallace Sititi's first Test starting performance was a reflection of that.

"He's an exceptional young man if you ever get to know him. He's a lovely kid and gets on that field and can turn it on. He's got a great skill set, he's mentally and physically tough. It's hard to believe he's so young and performs like that."

Looking at the forwards across the two Tests in South Africa, he said there were some great performances.

"Some players went really, really deep with creative skillsets with the ball in hand, set piece, defensively and our breakdown tonight was phenomenal."

The next phase of the season, defending the Bledisloe Cup in two Tests against Australia, was critical, especially in addressing the final quarter issue.

There was also concern about the way match officials overlooked an incident near the end of Saturday's game when the second five-eighths, Jordie Barrett, was hit in the face. Despite captain Scott Barrett asking them to look at it, they felt it was okay.

"It's another one of the examples to describe the small margins, how things can change the dynamics of the game. It just shows you're in the hands of the referee and how they interpret all those situations."

Scott Barrett said it was disappointing to be on the wrong side of the result for the second time, especially after having created chances.

The side would need to regroup during their bye week, and they would be feeling some discomfort before facing Australia.

READ MORE: Humble Rassie Erasmus plays down Boks double over All Blacks