Kiwis keep the Bledisloe Cup
Coming back from 13-0 down, for the second successive week, the All Blacks beat the Wallabies 30-13 in their Tri-Nations/ Bledisloe Cup match at the Telstra Stadium in Sydney on Saturday. The winning margin could well have been greater.
Winning meant New Zealand retained the Bledisloe Cup and kept their hopes alive of winning the Tri-Nations though they would have liked the bonus point which would have come with a fourth try.
Australia's chances of winning the Tri-Nations must surely now be purely a theory.
Australia started well, but then the All Black pack got on top and by the end they were winning the scrum, the tackle and the line-out.
The Wallabies, in their defence, were rendered tattered by a succession of injuries which saw them clear their bench and Chris Whitaker at fly-half for the last part of the match.
New Zealand also suffered a setback when Daniel Carter was helped off with a leg injury but by then the All Blacks led 23-13.
For 68 minutes Australia did not score a point.
Two calls for knock-ons robbed the All Blacks of first a probable and then a possible try. On both occasion there was the impression that the ball had gone backwards.
There were also close calls for the Wallabies when the television match official judge d that Lote Tuqiri had got a hand to the ball a nanosecond before Carter did.
Rico Gear lost the ball about three metres from the line. Piri Weepu and Joe Rokocoko managed to knock on a kick with the line beckoning. A diagonal kick by Carter was gathered by Rokocoko, but Mils Muliaina knocked on the flicked pass from the stately Fijian.
Once Weepu broke blind from, a turn-over but ignored a plethora of support all around him to grubber the ball into touch. The winning margin could well have been greater.
The opening quarter of the match belonged to Australia, the second quarter to New Zealand, the whole second half to New Zealand. In the opening quarter Australia went ahead 13-0 after 12 minutes but by half-time the score was 13-10 and Australia perhaps lucky to be ahead.
The Wallaby hero of the first quarter was young fullback Drew Mitchell. He broke sharply three times in this period, the second producing a brilliant try.
He came in at fly-half from a midfield scrum, beat Daniel Carter on the outside with a hand-off, beat Mils Muliaina and then as Jerry Collins leapt on his back he skidded over for a try on the wet turf. That try converted by Giteau took Australia to 13-0. It was a brilliant try from a set piece.
Before the try Giteau had kicked a straightforward penalty when Chris jack was penalised for holding on and then a more angled one when Richie McCaw was penalised at a tackle.
There were during the match, but especially in the first half, several long passages of play as first one side and then the other ran.
Much of New Zealand's efforts were spoilt as the backs tended to run across the field -- after Weepu had taken a step or two or three sideways before passing. In the second half the All Blacks became more direct.
But it was Weepu who scored New Zealand's first try. Muliaina countered off a feeble kick and gave to Rokocoko near touch. The wing bumped Mitchell out of the way and was stopped at the line. Back the ball came to Weepu who darted, barged and scored far out. Carter converted.
Aaron Mauger grubbered and Tana Umaga flykicked ahead to keep the pressure on Australia who lost Jeremy Paul to a shoulder injury. His place was taken by Brendan Cannon, recently back from injury. He had a rusty match.
Elton Flatley and Clyde Rathbone also came on from recent injury, though Flatley then had to be replaced in the second half, sending Whitaker to fly-half.
Mauger had a great break just before half-time but then threw a woeful pass to his left.
New Zealand started the second half sharply and enjoyed almost complete domination of the half. The Wallabies' attacking opportunities came almost exclusively as a result of penalties.
Two scrum penalties gave New Zealand the lead in the half. The Australian scrum was under pressure throughout and became scruffier and scruffier as the match went on. First Bill Young and then his replacement Matt Dunning were penalised for collapsing and each time Carter goaled, the second time in off the upright.
The Wallabies were defending grimly. A wobbly line-out left Daniel Vickerman to clean up but he was shunted back and held on in the tackle. Vickerman penalised, McCaw tapped and charged ahead at George Gregan and other Wallabies to score a try confirmed by the TMO. Carter converted. 23-13.
The wallabies battered at the New Zealand defence, one at a time with more force than skill till big Stirling Mortlock, whose game had been reduced to a tight forward's speed and mode of play, was tackled. McCaw won a turn-over off him and suddenly the All Blacks were racing left out of their 22. Rokocoko took a pass somewhere near the half-way line, ran, chipped, gathered and raced over for a try which he celebrated, rising lark-like from the ground before plunging to earth at the posts. Luke McAlister, on for Carter, converted.
There was still time and energy for the All Blacks to hunt down a bonus-point try, but in vain.
Man of thee Match: Richie McCaw, Jerry Collins, Chris Jack Carl Hayman, Keven Mealamu were great in the All Black pack and Aaron Mauger did clever things behind them Joe Rokocoko made a try and scored one. For Australia John Roe was gallant but our Man of the Match was Drew Mitchell, a young player who was the most electric back on the field, able to flash into effective action.
Moment of the Match: Drew Mitchell's try was a great one and Joe Rokocoko's even more so but the try from the smallest run was the one that decided the match -- Richie McCaw's try. The flank put the ball down, tapped it with great concentration, picked it up and then drove with strength and determination. That try made the win for New Zealand.
Villain of the Match: None was immediately obvious though a tackle on Morgan Turinui and a tackle on Elton Flatley may not have been entirely wholesome. But our Villain of the Match was Daniel Carter for a trip after a penalty, a gratuitous bit of silliness.
The scorers:
For Australia:
Try: Mitchell
Con: Giteau
Pens: Giteau 2
For New Zealand:
Tries: Weepu, McCaw, Rokocoko
Cons: Carter 2
Pens: Carter 3
The teams:
Australia: 15 Drew Mitchell, 14 Mark Gerrard, 13 Stirling Mortlock, 12 Morgan Turinui (Clyde Rathbone, 49), 11 Lote Tuqiri, 10 Matt Giteau (Elton Flatley, 36 -- Gregan 74), 9 George Gregan (captain, Chris Whitaker, 66), 8 David Lyons (Phil Waugh, 55), 7 George Smith, 6 John Roe, 5 Nathan Sharpe (vice-captain, Mark Chisholm, 66), 4 Daniel Vickerman, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Jeremy Paul (Brendan Cannon, 34), 1 Bill Young (Matt Dunning, 44-57).
New Zealand: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Rico Gear, 13 Tana Umaga, 12 Aaron Mauger, 11 Joe Rokocoko, 10 Dan Carter (Luke McAlister, 69), 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Rodney So'oialo (Marty Holah, 74), 7 Richie McCaw, 6 Jerry Collins, 5 Ali Williams (James Ryan, 76), 4 Chris Jack, 3 Carl Hayman (Greg Somerville, 60), 2 Keven Mealamu (Derren Witcombe, 67), 1 Tony Woodcock.
Unused replacements: 20 Kevin Senio, 22 Leon MacDonald.
Referee: Tony Spreadbury (England)
Touch judges: Alain Rolland (Ireland), Dave Pearson (England)
Television match official: Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
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