Triumphant All Blacks skipper Richie McCaw says his side drew inspiration for its big win over Australia from performing the controversial "throat-slitting" haka.

The New Zealanders replaced the more commonly performed "Ka Mate" haka with the "Kapa O Pango", a newer haka developed specifically for the All Blacks, before going on to thrash Australia 39-10 at Eden Park.

Translated as "team in black", the new haka is performed at the players' discretion and includes a final gesture resembling a throat being cut.

It also includes the lines: "Our dominance rises, our supremacy emerges to be placed on high."

"We've been waiting to use it for a while to be honest but there's a few new fellas that obviously needed a bit of work, so we've been working on it to make sure everyone's up to speed," McCaw said.

"That certainly adds a little bit extra to the boys and they enjoyed doing it so we decided right at the start of the week that it would be time to do it."

That decision came with the All Blacks under huge pressure to avoid losing three straight Tests for the first time since 1998.

McCaw dished up his own share of inspiration for his team-mates, making a successful return from an ankle injury on Saturday night.

"It was fine. Towards the end I guess the lungs ran out of puff a wee bit but I got through pretty good. I was pretty happy to be back out on the field," he said.

"They never got any hot football and some of the tackles that went in forced turnovers and we put the ball at the right end of the paddock."

The win will no doubt decrease the "stress" coach Graham Henry admitted to feeling pre-match with the All Blacks shooting to the top of the Tri-Nations table, although Australia and South Africa have games in hand.

The All Blacks' remaining two games in the series are against the Springboks in Cape Town in two weeks and against Australia in Brisbane next month.

"This keeps us alive in the Tri-Nations and the Bledisloe Cup," Henry said.

"We don't underestimate the magnitude of that task. We've got two away games now.

"I think the next contest (against Australia) is going to be massive because both teams will have equal edge ... it's just a matter of edge and tactical approach."

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