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McCaw: Work to be done for All Blacks
ESPN Staff
August 11, 2012
All Blacks centre Ma'a Nonu is hauled down, New Zealand v Counties Manukau, Auckland, New Zealand, August 10, 2012
Ma'a Nonu in action against Counties Manukau © Getty Images
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All Blacks skipper Richie McCaw admitted his side have "a bit of work to do" before their Rugby Championship campaign begins next weekend.

The All Blacks came through a practice match in Pukekohe on Friday night without any new injury worries. The squad played two 20-minuite halves in front of a crowd of 10,000 as they continued their preparations for thief opening Test in the inaugural Rugby Championship against Australia in Sydney.

They beat Counties Manukau 12-0 in the first half and Auckland 14-5 in the second with Julian Savea scoring in both and Cory Jane also touching down in the first match and Hosea Gear and Alby Mathewson in the second.

And while McCaw was happy with the run-out, he insisted there was much to work on ahead of next weekend's match in Sydney.

"We had a few guys that hadn't played much footy for a while and got a bit of rust out but I think it will be good for us," he told TVNZ. "If anything, it puts your feet on the ground as well and (shows) it doesn't just happen, and to be fair we haven't been together for long and we've got a bit of work to do."

He added to One Sport: "It was a really valuable run-around and the boys will be better off for it and obviously the Chiefs boys had a chance to freshen up a bit so hopefully, come Monday, we're all ready to go and looking forward to the Test week.

"No matter how much training you do away from playing it's easy to lose your rhythm a little bit so that will help. The upside to those guys having a rest is they'll be fresh and they've had a chance to get over niggles and stuff like that."

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