Wallabies skipper Rocky Elsom admitted that their 30-14 loss to New Zealand wasn't helped by their inability to turn possession and territory into points in the first half.

The difference between the two sides could very well have been the fact that the All Blacks always had something to show for their visits to the Australian's 22.

"We put ourselves under a lot of pressure early with the way we were attacking," Elsom said. "We got a bit better near the end, but the damage was already done.

"We had plenty of opportunities and that cost us because we left a fair few points out there, and there is a big gap on that scoreboard."

The frustration at not making scoring opportunities count was echoed by Wallaby coach Robbie Deans.

"We're pretty disappointed with our effort," Deans said. "Tactically, we didn't help ourselves. We left a lot of points out there tonight but we certainly learned a lot from that.

"It's not going to get any easier come World Cup time."

Australian flyhalf Quade cooper was exposed in a match that didn't suit his style of play, and his kiwi counterpart Dan Carter looked far superior albeit as part of a stronger side.

"They were in our face all night," Cooper said. "There was some space there, but we weren't turning that space into points.

"It was one of those nights, a lot of 50-50 balls that didn't come off. You can't really win the game when you are going backwards."

However, Elsom wasn't buying into the theory that losing at the World cup final venue would have any king of psychological impact on his team.

"I think we can't worry too much about the ground," he said. "They're all grass so it's just about playing well, and weren't sharp enough and they were very sharp, so the best side won on the day."