New Zealand rugby fans turned on the All Blacks after the team's Tri-Nations loss to Australia, with pundits labelling them "stupid" on Sunday and beleagured coach Graham Henry under renewed attack.

The knives were out for Henry as the coach once hailed as the "Great Redeemer" was outsmarted by Robbie Deans, the boss the New Zealand Rugby Union did not want and encouraged to move to Australia.

Saturday night's long-awaited Test, the first pitching Henry against Deans since Henry's reappointment despite last year's World Cup flop, turned into a one-sided affair as the Wallabies romped to a 34-19 victory.

"It wasn't just the margin, it was the fact that the off-field mastermind was a man we could have had for the asking that left you feeling sick by game's end," wrote columnist Phil Gifford in the Sunday Star-Times.

Deans is by far the most successful coach in the history of the Super rugby series and he has moulded the Wallabies along the same lines that he used to take the Crusaders to five Super rugby titles.

Even All Blacks assistant coach Steve Hansen admitted after the Test there was an air of the Crusaders about the Wallabies, yet the All Blacks did not seem prepared for that.

Veteran broadcaster Murray Deaker, who fielded non-stop calls on his radio talkback programme blaming Henry for the heavy defeat and bemoaning the loss of Deans to Australia, described the All Blacks game plan as "ill-conceived".

The All Blacks were "more stupid than courageous" wrote Gregor Paul in the Herald on Sunday.

"The All Blacks straddled that fine line between bravery and stupidity last night and ended up putting the emphasis too heavily on the latter," he wrote.

"As a consequence, New Zealanders really will wake up this morning and wonder if they let the wrong coach go at the end of last year."

Under the headline "Backline try-hards fall short again", columnist Duncan Johnstone, pointed out the inability of the All Blacks backs to finish off promising breaks.

"With a mountain of possession the All Blacks made 11 line breaks to the Wallabies' eight, ran with the ball 121 times compared to Australia's 73 and made almost twice as many metres (909 to 503)," Johnstone said.

"Yet they didn't have much to show for it in the end as they were either smothered by some hugely effective and at times desperate defence from the home side."

An underlying theme of the criticism was that New Zealanders will not stand for another loss.

"One more defeat, especially at home against the Wallabies, and this whole Henry thing could implode in a big way. Seriously," columnist Marc Hinton wrote on the RugbyHeaven website.

"The New Zealand public will bay for blood on the floor if the All Blacks lose three on the trot. They'll demand change, even if the reality is it can't come until, at the very least, the end of this competition. It will be an unholy mess."

Gifford saw next Saturday's Test as a "must win" for the All Blacks, "or the rest of the Tri-Nations will be long, painful, and, perhaps worst of all for our rugby, divisive."

In an article headlined "A dingo ate our soft All Blacks" Greg Ford in the Herald on Sunday took issue with the decision to retain Henry as the All Blacks coach at the expense of Robbie "Dingo" Deans.

"Given last night's result and their shock decision to re-appoint Graham Henry back in December a poll of the New Zealand Rugby Union board as to whether they still stand behind their decision would be a fascinating exercise right now," he said.

AFP