New Zealand finally laid their recent Sydney bogey to rest with an emphatic 50-21 win over the world champion Wallabies at the Telstra Stadium, the Men in Black outscoring their hosts by seven tries to three in their Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup fixture.
The Kiwis were simply awesome as they blew the Wallabies away, much like last week against the Springboks, after recovering from a slow start, which saw the home side run into an early 5-0 lead.
Matthew Burke was the Wallaby try-scorer after a scorching break from outside centre Mat Rogers, who broke through a tackle from Justin Marshall before speeding down the touchline. The support was there, with Wendell Sailor and Elton Flatley both handling the ball before Burke nipped through a gap from a well-timed Toutai Kefu pass.
Burke missed the conversion, allowing New Zealand to narrow the gap to just two points through a well-struck Carlos Spencer penalty just two minutes later.
Daniel Vickerman conceded a silly penalty soon after the re-start, for holding back an opponent at a line-out, which saw the Kiwis turn up the heat. A stray line-out throw from the Wallabies saw the ball get out to new wing sensation Joe Rokocoko and he flew past his marker Wendell Sailor, who looked like his feet were stuck in a cement block.
Sailor was obviously keen to make amends for his defensive blunder soon afterwards, but his over-exuberance saw the complexion of the match change completely when he was yellow-carded for a dangerous tackle on All Black fullback Mils Muliaina.
The All Blacks were ahead by 8-5 when Sailor went into the bin and although the Wallabies made a good fist of things initially, with Burke slotting a penalty soon after Sailor's sin-binning, the Kiwis were patient as they slowly began gunning for the jugular.
With just minutes remaining in Sailor's spell off the field Aaron Mauger ripped the Wallaby defence apart when he spotted Pat Noriega in the backline before unloading to Doug Howlett to finish under the uprights. Spencer converted for a 15-8 lead, but the Kiwis were not done yet as Rokocoko completed his brace, flying down the right-hand touchline with his marker warming up on the sidelines.
Spencer missed the conversion, but at 20-8 the Kiwis had knocked the stuffing out of the bewildered Australians, exactly as they had done to the Springboks last week.
Burke slotted his second penalty of the night to narrow the scoreline to 20-11, but Spencer cancelled that out with a long-range effort on the half-time hooter. At 23-11 the Australians needed to come out firing after the break.
The start of the second half was muted in comparison with the end of the first period, but when the Kiwis had a chance to add to their scoreline they did, Spencer kicking another penalty to stretch his side's lead to 26-11.
More Kiwi pressure forced the Wallabies back into their 22-metre area, a wonderful kick-ahead from Chris Jack pinning them near their tryline before a failed touch-finder from Stephen Larkham found Rokocoko. The Blues flyer flung the ball in-field and two long passes later it found Muliaina, who switched inside to Tana Umaga, the veteran Kiwi changing angle slightly and leaving George Smith clutching at thin air as he crashed over for try number four.
Spencer converted and at 33-11 it was game over for the home team, with All Black coach John Mitchell getting Spencer off the field soon afterwards -- a sure sign that it was mission accomplished for the "Men in Black".
Young Daniel Carter -- Spencer's replacement -- got in on the act soon after entering the fray, a show of the ball and a surprising turn of pace taking him to the goalline. He missed the conversion of his own try, with the ball hitting the left-hand upright, but at 38-11 the Australians were facing a record loss.
Sailor, who missed Rokocoko twice on defence, got one back shortly before the start of the final quarter as he powered through the All Black defence from first receiver to add to his try against the Boks in Cape Town.
Rogers also got in on the act later on, with a superb long-range effort, but Rokocoko had already completed his hat-trick before then, while Mauger danced over from close-range on the final hooter to complete the humiliation.
This was not Australia's biggest-ever Test loss. That record belongs to the class of '97, going down by 61-22 to the Springboks in Pretoria, while this was also not Australia's biggest-ever loss to New Zealand, with Sean Fitzpatrick's All Blacks handing the Wallabies a 43-6 thrashing in 1996. It was, however, the biggest-ever score that they have conceded to New Zealand.
The All Blacks already have one hand on the Tri-Nations trophy with their second successive away win, while the Australians would need to play with some authority when they travel to Auckland in August for their return clash against the old enemy.
The Kiwis are a class above South Africa and Australia at present -- any bets for next week's clash in Brisbane? -- and the only team capable of stopping the rampant English side at the Rugby World Cup in Australia later this year.
Man of the Match: It really is hard to single out one All Black player, with every single "Man in Black" impressing on the night. For the Wallabies, hooker Brendan Cannon fought a lone battle, while the rest of his team-mates wilted under pressure. Keven Mealamu and Chris Jack were the best Kiwi forwards and the entire New Zealand backline had the better of their opponents. But one man in particular that was at the heart of the New Zealand's brilliant performance was second five-eighth Aaron Mauger, who was playing in only his second Test since last year's Tri-Nations series. He combines so well with Spencer and takes the pressure off the classy Blues No.10 with his decision-making and power.
Moment of the Match: Every single New Zealand try deserves a mention here, while the two Australian tries were not half-bad either. But our Moment of the match came from a delightful bit of work from All Black second rower Chris Jack -- a deft kick-ahead off his left boot rolling into touch just metres from the Wallaby goalline in the build-up to Tana Umaga's try. That kick would have pleased most fly-halves.
Villain of the Match: Quite an easy one here -- Wallaby wing Wendell Sailor. The "Big Del" was shown a yellow card for a silly tackle on Mils Muliaina as the All Black fullback was in the air fielding a high kick. Sailor was guilty of ball-watching and it cost his team dearly. He was carded in the 24th minute, with the score at 8-8. When he returned to the field of play New Zealand were leading by 20-8. Interestingly, Sailor's team-mate, hooker Brendan Cannon, was lucky to escape censure just a few minutes later for exactly the same offence on Muliaina.
Yellow card(s): Wendell Sailor (Australia, 24)
The Teams:
Australia: 1 Patricio Noriega, 2 Brendan Cannon, 3 Bill Young, 4 David Giffin, 5 Daniel Vickerman, 6 George Smith, 7 Phil Waugh, 8 Toutai Kefu, 9 George Gregan (c), 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Wendell Sailor, 12 Elton Flatley, 13 Mat Rogers, 14 Lote Tuqiri, 15 Matthew Burke
Reserves: Owen Finegan, Chris Latham, Ben Darwin, Adam Freier, Nathan Sharpe, Steve Kefu
Unused: Chris Whitaker
New Zealand: 1 David Hewett, 2 Keven Mealamu, 3 Greg Somerville, 4 Chris Jack, 5 Ali Williams, 6 Richard McCaw, 7 Reuben Thorne (c), 8 Jerry Collins, 9 Justin Marshall, 10 Carlos Spencer, 11 Doug Howlett, 12 Aaron Mauger, 13 Tana Umaga, 14 Joe Rokocoko, 15 Mils Muliaina
Reserves: Daniel Carter, Steve Devine, Marty Holah, Brad Thorn, Mark Hammett, Kees Meeuws, Caleb Ralph
Attendance: 82096
Referee: Spreadbury t.
Points Scorers:
Australia
Tries: Burke M.C. 1, Rogers M.S. 1, Sailor W.J. 1
Pen K.: Burke M.C. 2
New Zealand
Tries: Carter D.W. 1, Howlett D.C. 1, Mauger A.J.D. 1, Umaga J.F. 1, Rokocoko J. 3
Conv: Carter D.W. 1, Spencer C.J. 2
Pen K.: Spencer C.J. 3
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