The All Blacks have retained the Bledisloe Cup and won the Tri-Nations Trophy in a dominant performance against the Wallabies in Christchurch tonight.
You’ve got to give them their due, the final scoreline of All Blacks 20 Wallabies 10 was to some extent an accurate reflection of the game although they were always threatening and you felt that they could break out at any time.
The All Blacks scored two tries in the first half (Muliaina and Smith) against the Wallabies one (Beale). All were converted and a couple of Carter penalties in the 2nd half rounded it out.
The Wallabies are fast becoming the Wales of the South Pacific in that they’re unable to break the All Black stranglehold, which has extended to nine games now and who knows when we’ll defeat them next.
Sure, it’s not quite the 57 year gap between when the Welsh last beat them in 1953 but you never know? It’s now going to be 10 years at the very least since we previously beat them away. To me, it actually looks like it’s going to be longer….
This is the reason we lost:
- The All Blacks were technically far superior to us in most facets of play – their skill level was superb and they made fewer mistakes.
- The All Blacks had a more solid scrum than the Wallabies although it stabilised later in the game. The scrum was under significant pressure in the first half and forced a number of turnovers. Brown at the back was always under the pump and Ma’afu at Tighthead wasn’t up to it again.
- The All Black breakdown work was just outstanding. McCaw and Read turned over ball after ball. They operated in tandem – one making the tackle and the other playing the ball on his feet.
- The All Black counter rucking caught the Wallabies napping on a number of occasions. They flooded the ruck sporadically and forced the turnover.
- The Wallabies were very predictable with their one off the ruck running and they were knocked over like nine-pins. Earlier in the game they tried a two-pass system and this worked for a while but it sort of fell away as the game progressed.
- The Wallabies didn’t have the penetration of the All Blacks. There were plenty of phases but not too much getting over the gainline. They seemed to run out of attacking ideas. The All Blacks were more unpredictable and dynamic – a different kettle of fish altogether.
- The Wallabies succumbed to continual All Black pressure. They forced mistakes and drove us backward. Our kick chase was also fairly average. Is it just laziness?
What did we do right? You’ve got to say that we were competitive this week and a vast improvement on the last game. Our lineout was solid and the restarts rectified.
Some would argue that the referee was quite poor and decisions continually went against the Wallabies. That’s what Kearns and co were on about.
I’m not sure that the referee was the difference between the teams. You make your own luck and it seems to me that the dominant team gets a slight advantage. Sure, Richie never gets sent off but if you’re the best player in the world why shouldn’t you get the benefit of the doubt?
David Pocock will be in his position in a year or two. He had another fantastic game. Sharpie wasn’t too far behind him with his runs and workrate. I’m pleased to see that Dick Brown, Rocky and Faingaa the Older did a mountain of work in the forwards as well.
Twin Anthony in his debut had a mixed match. In the negative, he fell off a couple of Nonu tackles but generally I thought he played better than Sookface has at any time in this international season. With QC back on the Bokke tour I’d expect Ant to return to the bench.
Gee, Kurtley Beale proved many detractors wrong (including me as I’ve only been lukewarm about him). He looked like he belonged at fullback – was full of running and confidence, and his defence didn’t really let him down.
I thought Genia and Gits combined pretty well but again when you’re behind a losing pack there’s only so much you can do. Sanchez was not able to front up to every ruck which made life difficult at times.
AAC was a success at outside centre and is consistently their best player.
Mixed feelings about this match. Extremely disappointed with a loss but not an unexpected result. Some positives, expecially when compared to last week but f*ck me when’s it going to end?
I’m addressing that question squarely at you Robbie….
