Never say die was the Wallabies' attitude in the 2001 Tri-Nations decider at Stadium Australia in Sydney as a last-gasp try from Toutai Kefu gave them a 29-26 win over New Zealand and retained the trophy they won in 2000.
As was the case last year, the Tri-Nations title was again sealed in the final moments. In 2000 the Wallabies snuck home in Durban with a Stirling Mortlock penalty goal. This time it was Kefu barrelling through to touch down under the posts.
But it was not easy for John Eales and his Wallaby troops who had to withstand an early second half blitzkrieg from New Zealand.
After leading 19-6 at the break the Wallabies must have though they were cruising to victory. They were more clinical than the All Blacks and kept the visitors at bay with solid, but patient defence.
On the other hand, the Kiwis made too many errors, conceding penalties, which Matt Burke slotted with ease. And while Burke did not miss once before the break, All Blacks' goal-kicker Andrew Mehrtens missed two attempts at goal.
But the defining moment of the first half came after 17 minutes, with the Wallabies attacking relentlessly. Burke and Mehrtens had each slotted two penalty goals at that stage.
Wing Chris Latham made good ground and the Wallabies got a good drive going. Then the always-alert Stephen Larkham spotted a weak link in the All Blacks' defensive line and chipped behind Jonah Lomu.
Lomu failed to gather and winger Chris Latham leaped high, shrugged off the desperate defence and ploughed over for the first try of the match.
Burke's conversion, and another penalty later in the half, saw the home-side take a commanding 19-6 lead at the break.
The All Black line-outs were terrible and New Zealand skipper Anton Oliver was struggling to find his jumpers. Added to that lock Norm Maxwell was sent to the sinbin by South African referee Tappe Henning for retaliation after he was punched by Michael Foley, the Wallaby hooker.
Australia remained calm throughout the first 40 minutes. They tried to keep the All Blacks pinned in their half and scored points when the Kiwis made crucial mistakes. Although it was no spectacle, the Wallabies' tactics worked and they looked set to complete the win without any hitches.
Then the second half started.
Three minutes into the second stanza All Black inside centre Pita Alatini, who had a solid first half, sniped through the Wallaby defence on the half-way line. He made 30 metres before offloading to Doug Howlett on his left shoulder.
The Blues' wing, who was a late replacement before the start for the injured Jeff Wilson, sped away for a great try. Mehrtens converted and suddenly New Zealand were just six points behind.
Moments later Aussie prop Rod Moore was penalised for "loitering" and Mehrtens closed the gap to three points.
Moore was in trouble again when he took the law into his own hands and was yellow carded. Off he went, and Alatini stepped into the spotlight again.
The All Black centre received the ball on the blindside, and with the Wallaby defence in disarray, he passed to Lomu, who drew a number of Aussie defenders before releasing a perfectly timed inside pass back to Alatini, who jogged over for his side's second try.
Mehrtens's conversion was good and suddenly, after scoring 17 points in a mere 11 minutes, the All Blacks took the lead 23-19.
Mehrtens, whose tactical kicking was brilliant, added three more and Andrew Walker, replacement wing for Burke, did the same. With ten minutes left on the clock the Wallabies were trailing 22-26.
The Wallabies got three penalty goals inside the All Black 22 in that time, and every time Eales indicated to Walker to enforce the line-out.
The All Blacks fended off the first two charges, but it was third time lucky for Australia and Stephen Larkham's inside pass to a barrelling Kefu saw the big No.8 barge over for the series-clinching try.
The conversion was good and when Mehrtens' restart failed to go the 10 metres, the hooter went, Henning awarded the scrum, Latham found touch and it was all over.
Byron Kelleher, the All Black No.9, again upstaged his more illustrious opponent and George Gregan could not stamp his usual authority on the game. That almost cost the Wallabies the game as New Zealand's continuing pressure, with Kelleher leading the charge, saw their defensive pattern shredded in the second half.
For the Wallabies the driving play of Owen Finegan, Nathan Grey and Kefu were worth gold. They made a lot of ground and took two or more Kiwi defenders out of the game every time they put their heads down.
In the end the Wallabies are deserved winners and we'll have to wait until next year to see if the All Blacks or Springboks could upstage the world champions.
Man of the match: This is a difficult decision. On the Wallaby side John Eales, Michael Foley and Toutai Kefu all had good games. The All Blacks' best were Troy Flavell, Chris Jack, Byron Kelleher and Andrew Mehrtens. But Pita Alatini wins it for his second half brilliance, which led to two tries and almost won the game for New Zealand.
Moment of the match: The last-mintue try by Toutai Kefu, without a doubt. The whole Wallaby squad exploded with joy and swamped their No.8 and outgoing captain John Eales, whose Wallaby career ended, as it started, with a win.
Villain of the match: The two "yellows" win this one today -- Norm Maxwell for retaliation, and Rod Moore for the same offence.
The teams:
Australia: 1 Rod Moore, 2 Michael Foley, 3 Nic Stiles, 4 John Eales (c), 5 David Giffin, 6 Owen Finegan, 7 George Smith, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 George Gregan, 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Chris Latham, 12 Nathan Grey, 13 Dan Herbert, 14 Joe Roff, 15 Matthew Burke
Reserves: Matt Cockbain, Elton Flatley, Ben Darwin, Andrew Walker, Phil Waugh
Unused: Brendan Cannon, Chris Whitaker
New Zealand: 1 Greg Somerville, 2 Anton Oliver (c), 3 Carl Hoeft, 4 Chris Jack, 5 Norm Maxwell, 6 Troy Flavell, 7 Taine Randell, 8 Ron Cribb, 9 Byron Kelleher, 10 Andrew Mehrtens, 11 Doug Howlett, 12 Pita Alatini, 13 Tana Umaga, 14 Jonah Lomu, 15 Leon MacDonald
Reserves: Carl Hayman, Marty Holah, Christian Cullen, Justin Marshall
Unused: Tony Brown, Mark Cooksley, Mark Hammett
Attendance: 90978
Referee: Henning t.
Points Scorers:
Australia
Tries: Kefu R.S.T. 1, Latham C.E. 1
Conv: Burke M.C. 1, Flatley E.J. 1
Pen K.: Burke M.C. 4, Walker A.M. 1
New Zealand
Tries: Howlett D.C. 1, Alatini P.F. 1
Conv: Mehrtens A.P. 2
Pen K.: Mehrtens A.P. 4
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