If there's one thing All Black Beauden Barrett will take from the stalemate in the opening Bledisloe Cup rugby clash, it's to avoid being at risk of a yellow card.
The five-eighth was one of two New Zealanders sin-binned by South African referee Jaco Peyper during the 12-12 draw with the Wallabies in Sydney, the other being prop Wyatt Crockett.
Barrett, appearing in his 20th Test, came off the bench in the 63rd minute and lasted just six minutes before seeing yellow for kicking the ball away from an offside position.
The resulting penalty tied the scores and the All Blacks were left short-handed for most of the rest of the match as they hung on for the draw.
The 23-year-old Barrett says the lesson for him is "not doing anything silly" that might lead to a yellow card.
"(It's) not to put myself in that situation," he said.
"It was quite hard to watch. It's hard to make a positive impact when you're on the sideline."
Apart from the sin-binnings, the All Blacks were also on the wrong end of a 14-9 penalty count as their bid for a record-breaking 18th win in a row fell short.
Barrett admits it's something that will need improving when the trans-Tasman rivals meet again in Auckland this Saturday.
Asked if discipline had been raised in team meetings on Monday, Barrett said it was an issue that was discussed every week.
"You can't get on the wrong side of the ref," he said.
"You have to take an extra step at ruck time. You just have to do as much as you can to keep the penalty count low."
Meanwhile, centre Ma'a Nonu and loose forward Jerome Kaino were booked for scans on Monday for respective shoulder and elbow injuries picked up in the Sydney Test.
Team management are due to report on the results of the scans on Tuesday.
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