Getting bogged down in the new scrum engagement rules is one explanation for the All Blacks’ jittery lineout against the Wallabies last week, says lock Brodie Retallick.

The All Blacks won just eight of their 12 throws and much of that was messy possession during the 47-29 first Bledisloe Cup Test in Sydney on Saturday. That compared with a fluent Australian nine-from-nine return.

Retallick says the New Zealand tight five spent much of their Sydney build-up preparing for the new scrum regulation.

The result was a substandard lineout, something they plan to remedy against Australia in Wellington on Saturday.

“We let ourselves down a wee bit there. Maybe we focused too much on getting the scrum right and it just showed us that we need to concentrate on both.”

Retallick, 22, came off the reserve bench for the injured Luke Romano 17 minutes into the Test.

He says the scrum battle also left the New Zealand pack unsatisfied.

Their match analysis showed that just six set pieces – lineout and scrum – produced ball of a good enough quality to properly launch a backline attack.

“Last week gave us a baseline. A few thing we tried might not have worked the best,” he said.

The All Blacks performance mirrored that of Retallick’s Super Rugby champion Chiefs.

Despite boasting the worst lineout statistics in the competition and operating with less possession than nearly every other side, the Chiefs conjured a second successive title.