New Zealand assistant coach Wayne Smith has pleaded for patience as the All Blacks look to bounce back from last weekend's 27-22 defeat to France.

Minus a host of leading players, the All Blacks slumped to their first home loss to the French for 15 years as they were out-muscled and out-played at Carisbrook.

"There is no magic wand.It's always the same every year when you get groups of players in from diverse teams, playing diverse styles of rugby" Smith said.

He added: "You've just got to help the players improve and concentrate on the processes. You can't just expect guys to go out there and play the way you want them to play immediately and all of the time."

While disappointed by the performance Smith said the players remained confident and were working hard to make amends in the second Test in Wellington on Saturday.

An extra session had been squeezed in on Wednesday in a bid to raise the intensity as they look to square the series after an underwhelming performance in Dunedin.

"There's good spirit, there's good attitude, there's good determination," the backs coach said.

But given the number of new faces and the lack of experience in the group, Smith was also wary of overloading the players and the need to keep things simple.

"They are under the pump anyway with the public," said Smith clearly aware of the disappointment felt by New Zealanders at the loss.

"At the end of the day, it's a green rectangle that they are playing on like it is in their home town. The tasks are the same, the field is the same size. They are great rugby players, we have just got to put it into the international arena."