There are 2 minutes to go in the deciding game of the Tri-nations 2008. Oz need to win to keep the Bledisloe alive as well and, having just scored a try to leave the score difference at 4 points, its game on. The ABs kick deep and from the first phase Giteau...kicks it back to the ABs. Insane. A minute later, after the ABs have run down the clock by picking and driving close in, George Smith somehow makes a turnover and the Wallabies play with a bit of width to work their way up to near the AB 22. A Wallaby takes it into the teeth of the tiring AB defence and the Wallaby forwards are no where to be seen. The hungrier ABs pile over the top, win the turnover and kick it out.
Well done ABs. Watched it with a kiwi mate and apart from 10-15 mins towards the end when he felt comfortable, we were both thinking the worst for most of the game.
ABs dominated the breakdown I thought. Even though we had a lot of possession, McCaw et al won a few turnovers and, crucially, slowed our ball down big time. I thought that was the difference. Given we only had one ball player, with slow ball, we werent asking enough questions of the very good Black defence. Greg Martin said it in his interview with McCaw, but for me, the story of the game was the last breakdown where we just didnt have numbers. There were probably more than a dozen times during the game where we didnt have numbers at the ruck.
Elsom did nothing. If there were a test next week, I would play Brown at 6 and Palu at 8. I dont blame George Smith for the breakdown woes. He was there all night. Both Smith and McCaw had good games I thought. They cancelled each other out to a certain extent although Smith won the turnover right at the end which gave Oz a chance to attack one last time.
Can anyone explain why, with a minute and a half to go, Giteau kicked it away? It wasnt a territory kick to try to win the ABs lineout throw, it was a horrible midfield bomb that landed closer to our 22 than the halfway. I agree with LG a little that the Oz gameplan is not right at the moment. Giteau and, to a degree, AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) look confused about whether they should be running or kicking. Their first option often seems to be to kick it. If that is the Deans way, I dont like it. I think Giteau is feeling the pressure of being the only creative player in the backline and this led to the stupid pass and some poor decision making. He is still our best option at 10 though and laid on a couple of good tries.
For the ABs, apart from the backrow, Woodcock, Weepu, Carter, Smith, Mils and Kahui were good I thought. Donald injected a bit of pace and surprised me. Thorn was quiet but seemed to be working hard.
For Oz, Moore was good in the set piece but made some mistakes in open play and was lucky not to get a yellow for repeated stupidity. Baxter and Robinson were good, both locks were good, Smith and Brown were good, Cross, AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) and Hynes were good. Mortlock was out of position but went ok (big hit on Nonu), Tuqiri was quiet and didnt go looking for work, Giteau mixed the sublime with the insane, Cordingley was so slow to clear the ball it was absurd, Elsom went missing (yeah, yeah, I know he does all the things you dont see...right) and Palu was mixed during his time on the field (I cant forgive him for bombing that try).
Mortlock was shown up in defence by Carter. Cross missed the tackle (which was a shocker because he got the hit on) but Mortlock was beaten on the outside and made Cross come in to start with. That was Mortlock's defensive error.
I would have brought Sheehan on but I think Deans was a little bit snookered by his bench. McMeniman cant scrummage as a lock. If he brought Waugh on, it would have had to have been for Sharpe but MMM would have weakened the scrum. Dunning would also have weakened the scrum and Baxter was playing well. After Sheehan came on, if there had been an injury in the backs, Mitchell was the only replacement. For those (probably incoherent) reasons, the only change I would have made that Deans didnt was Sheehan for Cordingley at about 60mins. Mumm would have been a better bench option than MMM because he can scrum but that's a selection issue rather than a replacement one.
We went better than I thought we would and I am starting to think that some of these guys are actually good international players. For example, Hynes, AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper), Cross, Barnes and Burgess are now players I feel ok to good about seeing them run out for us. In the forwards, Robinson, Moore, Horwill, Mumm and Brown have developed. Baxter has also surprised me. I think the Wobs have improved this season.
My mate said at the end of the game that anyone could have won it. That is true, but for the last 6 or 7 years its been the ABs that have won it. That is the difference at the moment. The 2006 Bledisloe in Brisbane, this one...games we could have won but lost. Its an important psychological edge the ABs have at the moment.
All in all, an enjoyable 3N which threw up a few surprises. I hope now that we all go North and show the 6N teams the wrong end of the scoreboard.
