TRI-NATIONS ESPIONAGE CLAIM: THE ALL BLACKS assistant coach Steve Hansen has claimed an Australian television network filmed one of their closed training sessions and handed the footage to the Wallabies before Saturday's final Tri-Nations encounter.

The Australian team, and a reporter for the Channel Seven network, who according to Hansen filmed Friday's training session, denied the claim.

The All Blacks came back from 17-7 down with 30 minutes to play to win the match 28-24 and clinch their fourth successive title and retain the Bledisloe Cup.

Speaking in Brisbane yesterday, Hansen said an Australian official informed the All Blacks of the alleged filming after the match.

"It's not a rumour, it's a fact, which is really disappointing," Hansen said.

"It was Channel Seven, and I don't know if it was more than one session but I definitely know of one session, then they gave it to the Australians. It's disappointing that the Australians actually used it.

"We know they used it because they told us. It was a bit dumb, but they did."

The Wallabies said in a statement, "There is absolutely no foundation to the allegations that Steve Hansen has made. No one from the team will be commenting any further. To do so would be to give the allegations a level of credibility they simply don't deserve."

Channel Seven's reporter Rohan Welsh, who covered the All Blacks' build-up, also contradicted Hansen.

"We would never give the Wallabies our vision," he was reported as saying by the New Zealand Press Association.

"And if the Wallabies can watch our news bulletin and make something of a two-and-a-half-second grab, shot through the trees, then Robbie Deans is a better coach than we all give him credit for."

International rugby has been rife with claim and counter-claims of espionage, the All Blacks claiming they had caught two men wearing camouflage filming a training session in Britain in 2005.

"It's hard enough to win games without the opposition knowing what you're going to do before you do it," said Hansen.

"That's why we do our analysis. The disappointing thing is, it'll reflect back next time we're here and it's going to be difficult for people to watch us train, I suppose."

Australia must try to achieve the consistency of the All Blacks if they are to win the Tri-Nations, coach Deans said.

The Wallabies had an inconsistent Tri-Nations, beating the All Blacks 34-19 in Sydney, only to lose 39-10 in Auckland a week later.

They did it again in South Africa, beating the world champions 27-15 in Cape Town, only to get blown away 53-8 a week later in Johannesburg.

They were leading 17-7 with 30 minutes to go in the final match in Brisbane before the All Blacks scored three unanswered tries to clinch victory.

"We seek the consistency that the All Blacks have," Deans said. "They've got a habit of winning these games. We're getting closer but we're not there yet.

"I'm very disappointed and very frustrated for the guys because the winning of the game was there, potentially.

"I was stoked with their effort. They were able to build a lot of pressure."

The New Zealander said that despite their lack of consistency, he had been impressed with how his side had developed throughout the annual competition.

"To put ourselves in that position (to win) shouldn't be underestimated. But we're not happy and I'm disappointed for the boys because they gave it everything. It could so easily have been different."