New Zealand are aiming to bounce back from Saturday's Tri-Nations defeat to unbeaten reigning champions South Africa, who celebrated their first win over the them in 29 years in Cape Town on Saturday.
In the absence of try-scoring phenomenon Sitiveni Sivivatu, the All Blacks - Gear's first-half performance aside - looked blunt in attack and had to settle for a bonus point.
It was a far cry from the triumph of July and the Lions series.
And Gear accepts victory over the Wallabies, which would all-but end Eddie Jones' hopes of the title, would only come from a return to the form shown earlier in the year.
"When we make breaks, it's probably more important to hang on to it and start again and keep them on the back foot," the try-scoring winger told the Dominion Post.
"We talked about taking more depth and trying to be a bit more patient with the ball.
"I think we were guilty of offloading when it wasn't quite on. If we could have held on to the ball for longer periods and frustrated them a bit more, then maybe we would have then got penalties.
"We made a few inroads and couldn't quite finish, but I think that's the way the Boks defended, sort of the spoiling defence, which I guess works for them."
