Crusaders coach Scott Robertson laments the undeniable gulf while Michael Cheika says Australian rugby has been "welcomed to first grade" after New Zealand sides again dominated Super Rugby Trans-Tasman.
The Queensland Reds' record 63-28 loss to the Crusaders in Saturday's battle of the respective Super Rugby champions made it two perfect rounds and a 10-0 head-to-head record for New Zealand teams.
A combined score of 416-214 across the 10 games, with an average margin of 20 points - even with the Brumbies' and Force's two and one-point losses last week - has swallowed up the feelgood factor that had built in Australian rugby ahead of Tests against France in July.
Robertson believes the Reds, the new benchmark of Australian rugby after pipping the Brumbies in the final a fortnight ago, have all the pieces but not the intensity to match his well-oiled champions.
Former Wallabies coach Cheika wants to see an immediate response but admitted the Reds, who went 8-1 through the domestic competition including the final, had been toyed with by arguably the world's best provincial outfit.
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