"They were just fractionally off. We spend a lot of time practicing perfect technique but in top sport like this,there will be the odd error."

Wallabies coach Dave Rennie said Berry was constrained by the law and referees had no choice but to work their way backwards from the starting point of a red card.

"In the end,we've got to deal with the law. The law says contact with the head starts at a red card. It's a safety issue... hard to argue with the decisions that were made.

"What we don't want in our game are reckless tackles. All we want is consistency. It was hard to argue that once they got a red card,ours wasn't a red card. We'll have to take it on the chin."

Swinton wasn't the only Wallaby to get his marching orders. Winger Marika Koroibete was shown a yellow card for a ruck infringement on the stroke of half-time,leaving the Wallabies with 13 for 10 minutes. The Welcome to Country before the match had wished everyone a good game of'rugby league'and the player count was edging closer to that sort of contest.

Barrett felt the wrath of Berry in the 67th minute for knocking the ball from the hands of Nic White,allowing the Wallabies to edge ahead 17-15 and have their rivals a man down as they chased a face-saving victory after a drubbing in Sydney last week.

It was 8-8 at half-time and the reduced line-ups had at least opened up extra space. But both sides were guilty of lacking patience in search of points,going wide and throwing extra passes early in a scrappy contest despite the perfect,dry and crisp conditions.

Wright scored with his first touch in Test rugby in just the second minute but the Wallabies wouldn't cross the line again until Taniela Tupou powered over from close range in the 75th minute. Newly minted five-eighth Reece Hodge had been steadily accumulating points and did the honours to give the Wallabies a nine-point lead with five on the clock.

Was it enough? Just. Tupou Vaa'i scored under the posts with a minute to go to get the All Blacks within two and it was set up for a grandstand finish.

This time,the all-conquering Kiwis couldn't conjure the magic they needed,with a pair of desperate tackles from Koroibete near the siren forcing an error and giving the Wallabies a much-needed lift for their seventh-straight Test victory in Brisbane.

Rennie would hail the contribution of 100-gamer James Slipper,who left early with a nasty dislocated elbow,but said this must simply be the start of a rebuild,not the culmination of a series that ended with a Wallaby win,a draw and two defeats.