Steve Hansen choked up when he described phoning his wife from the pitch after the All Blacks defeat.
The coach, who is stepping down from the job after the Rugby World Cup, got emotional during a press conference on Sunday morning after New Zealand lost 19-7 to England.
Captain Kieran Read, who had a birthday on Saturday, was also clearly upset when he told reporters about going back to his hotel and finding cards from his children in the room.
Hansen told reporters he was "still hurting" and then got visibly upset and took a moment to compose himself: "I rang my wife. And we had a bit of a chat and then talked to Ted (Graham Henry) and Conrad (Smith) about '07.
"And we talked about it being no different, the gutted feeling. Ted and I talked about how well they played. I did a bit of learning. And then you move on."
Follow all the latest on the build up to Wales' game against South Africa here.
But he added that it was important that the players "got back on the horse" for the bronze medal game on Friday against either South Africa or Wales.
He said: "It's massively important. This team will never be together again. We all know some people are moving on...and it's an opportunity for us to go and express what we find is special about being an All Black.
"It'll be a different changing shed than Saturday night if we can get up and win that game."
TVNZ footage shows the emotional press conference moment.
Captain Kieran Read also talked about the defeat.
He said: "As the leader you look at ways how you could have done things differently, but it won't change the fact we lost. I'm proud of our effort, our energy...and I wouldn't go out there with any other group of blokes.
"We're a team that's talented, hardworking and we're so well connected. You see how much this hurts us, but we'll stay tight. The younger guys have an opportunity to come back in four years. They'll hold on to this feeling and come back and say 'I don't want to feel like this again'.
"It's way bigger than the individual. The amount of good messages, it helps. It was my birthday yesterday and I get back to the hotel and there's messages from my kids. It's a game. It puts things in perspective.
"I'm a dad and that's the thing first and foremost I want to be remembered by."
