All Blacks retain their crowns

New Zealand have retained their Tri-Nations trophy and the Bledisloe Cup after beating Australia 28-24 in a scintillating rugby encounter at Suncorp Stadium, that will go down as one of the all-time classics.

The All Blacks piled on 21 unanswered points in a match-defining seventeen-minute spell during the second half, after trailing 17-7, to clinch the winner-takes-all contest.

The result means New Zealand hang on to an unprecedented fourth consecutive Tri-Nations title as well as holding a 2-1 lead in the Bledisloe Cup series, with a final game in Hong Kong scheduled for November 1.

The Wallabies were going in search of their first Tri-Nations title since 2001 and looked to be on course to end that drought when they led 10-7 at the half-time break, but it wasn't to be.

New Zealand built their challenge on tackle point dominance, patient defence and an accurate kicking game.  They excelled in all these facets of play and the Wallabies were reacting to the All Blacks rather than imposing themselves on their visitors for the bulk of the Test.

The hosts did, however, exceed expectations at the set phases, excelling on their own line-out ball and troubling the visitors on theirs, while also achieving parity at scrum time -- and this kept them in the game.

Australia fly-half Matt Giteau had a solid platform from which to orchestrate play, but he struggled initially, kicking poorly and often passing the ball behind those on his outside halting any momentum they had built up.

He wasn't helped by the fact that his side were being dominated at the tackle point and subsequently the breakdowns, ruining the quality of service he received.

But the Wallabies remedied their flaws as the match wore on, committing more cleaners to the rucks and Giteau's potency was amplified, seen by the fact that he was prominent in both their tries either side of half-time.

New Zealand pivot Dan Carter controlled the game well when in possession, blending midfield bombs with good tactical kicks, sniping breaks and good distribution.  His cause was aided by some very efficient ruck cleaning, which ensured he received quick ball.

The Wallabies had the better of the opening exchanges with the first seven minutes of the match played exclusively in All Blacks territory.

But the hosts failed to turn pressure into points -- Giteau had the first shot at goal in the fourth minute but failed to convert from 43 metres out.

The visitors finally got their hands on the ball in enemy territory and took almost immediate advantage when full-back Mils Muliaina crossed untouched in the 11th minute.

Some quick thinking from scrum-half Jimmy Cowan off a short-arm penalty put the Wallabies on the back foot and quick hands was all that was needed from New Zealand who made Australia pay for not numbering up in defence.

Carter's conversion made it 7-0 the visitors' way with 15 minutes played.

A string of costly errors and poor skill execution kept the Wallabies scoreless despite enjoying the bulk of possession.

Australia's best opportunity came on the 20-minute mark but again failed to trouble the scoreboard attendant as Wycliff Palu ignored two unmarked men on his outside to bomb an almost certain try.

The Wallaby number eight was unable to make ammends after limping off with a medial ligament injury which may cost him his place in the end-of-season tour.

Australia finally had something to show for their efforts when Giteau slotted a penalty goal from close range after All Blacks captain Richie McCaw was penalised for being offside at the breakdown.

Australia continued to ask questions for the remainder of the half but had to wait until after time had expired to post their first five-pointer of the contest.

A clever Giteau cross-kick found Peter Hynes on the right wing who delivered a clever one-touch pass inside to a streaming Adam Ashley-Cooper who showed tremendous footwork on his way to the tryline.

Giteau's sideline conversion handed the hosts a 10-7 half-time lead.

It took just five minutes for the Wallabies to strike in the second stanza when lock James Horwill barged over on the back of some brilliant lead-up work from Giteau.

The Wallabies playmaker danced through the All Blacks defensive line before linking with replacement forward Richard Brown who was grassed within touching distance of the line.

Giteau finished the job from the ensuing phase drifting across field before throwing the final pass for the charging Horwill for the converted try to extend to a ten-point lead.

New Zealand's response was swift as Conrad Smith found space to send loosehead prop Tony Woodcock in for his side's second try -- Carter's sideline conversion cut the deficit to three points with half an hour to play.

Having denied a sustained attack from the Wallabies, the All Blacks reclaimed the lead in the 62nd minute when Sitiveni Sivivatu found replacement scrumhalf Piri Weepu for the converted try and a 21-17 advantage.

The All Blacks continued to carve up the Wallabies defence, a sustained attack allowing Carter to run around Stirling Mortlock and then bounce off an attempted shoulder charge by Ryan Cross to score the clincher with 12 minutes left.

Victory -- along with the Tri Nations trophy and Bledisloe Cup -- appeared all but assured for Graham Henry's men.

But in a finish worthy of the occasion, a bustling try from former Rugby League star Cross and a last-minute attack by Australia, had the hosts inside the visitors quarter on the last play of the game.

However, the Wallabies couldn't produce the dream finish most of the 52,328-strong crowd had hoped for.

The All Blacks were forced to defend well after the siren had sounded before the turnover finally came and Weepu booted the ball into the stands to claim a famous victory.

Man of the match:  There were heroes all over the park.  Richie McCaw and Dan Carter served up their class once again, but others played lead roles too.  Both half-backs Jimmy Cowan and Piri Weepu had big games, Conrad Smith was a colossus in midfield, Richard Kahui rock solid on his wing, while up front Rodney So'oialo and Jerome Kaino had strong matches.  Tony Woodcock shook off a head knock to produce another memorable Test and Ali Williams and Brad Thorn gave it everything.  A team award to the All Blacks.

Moment of the match:  Tough one to call in a match that had it all.  But Ryan Cross' late strike ensured a dramatic finish that will long be remembered by all who witnessed it.

Villain of the match:  A fantastic spectacle played in a gentlemanly manner.

The scorers:

For Australia:
Tries:  Ashley-Cooper, Horwill, Cross
Cons:  Giteau 3
Pen:  Giteau

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Muliaina, Woodcock, Weepu, Carter
Cons:  Carter 4

Australia:  15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Peter Hynes, 13 Ryan Cross, 12 Stirling Mortlock (c), 11 Lote Tuqiri, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Sam Cordingley, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 George Smith, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 James Horwill, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements:  16 Adam Freier, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Hugh McMeniman, 19 Phil Waugh, 20 Richard Brown, 21 Brett Sheehan, 22 Drew Mitchell.

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Richard Kahui, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Rodney So'oialo, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Ali Williams, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Greg Somerville, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 John Afoa/ Neemia Tialata, 18 Anthony Boric, 19 Adam Thomson, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Isaia Toeava.

Referee:  Jonathan Kaplan
Touch judges:  Craig Joubert, Mark Lawrence
TMO:  Johann Meuwesen

All Blacks shape up well

New Zealand have given themselves a useful training-match hit-out, beating Samoa by a record 101-14 margin in New Plymouth on Wednesday.

The performance was not flawless by any means.  Restarts were messy, and the handling was often rusty early on.  Having built up a commanding early lead, the concentration fell away for a while and Samoa caused one or two problems, not least when they finished off a clinical try.

The opening All Black try was as textbook as could be.  New Zealand had a scrum out right, and they wheeled it to the left with consummate ease, meaning that the Samoan back-row was left struggling to cover the extra yards across the middle of the park.

Ma'a Nonu fed Adam Thomson inside, who punched it up the middle.  From the ruck, the ball was swung wide left, and another ruck was formed, and then the ball came back wide right where Mils Muliaina had space to get through some rather shabby tackling and go under the posts.  A perfect three-phase training ground plan.

Samoan full-back Alatasi Tupou had a shot for posts to at least get his side on the board two minutes later when Andrew Hore was caught offside, and referee Stuart Dickinson was certainly unforgiving on marginal decisions against the All Blacks, which is fair enough -- the All Blacks should not have been getting anything even marginally wrong today.

Tupou's kick flew high and wide though, and from the counter attack, Anthony Tuitavake made 50m down the left, before the ball moved through four sets of hands from one touchline to the other, and Adam Thomson scored.

Muliaina notched his second on thirteen minutes after Tuitavake accelerated out of a tight spot, and New Zealand's attack from the restart took them into Samoa's 22, before Dan Carter's high kick was taken by Tuitavake, who linked with Muliaina to send Conrad Smith through.

Thomson showed us his sevens talents by bursting through a midfield gap and nearly out-stripping the Samoan cover, but Samoa did well to dig in for the resulting five minutes of heavy pressure -- including several 5m scrums -- before hacking clear a dropped ball from Nonu.  At the next spell of pressure, they even managed to turn over the ball, as New Zealand's concentration of players at the ruck diluted.

It spurred the visitors on, and after Kahui was caught out by the new laws about kicking from the 22, George Stowers' break off the back of the line-out ended in a try for Samoan Sevens star Uale Mai, who burst through a half-gap from seven metres out.

Conrad Smith ghosted in for a try under the posts shortly after, with Ma'a Nonu making the initial yardage down the left.

Then Samoan scrum-half Notise Tauafao was yellow-carded for a stupid offside -- his team's tenth penalty to New Zealand's one -- and the All Blacks immediately exploited it, drilling the scrum backwards and then with Rodney So'oialo feeding Jimmy Cowan down the short side.

From the restart, the All Blacks spread the ball wide, sensing the bowing heads in the Samoan camp, and once Kahui had slipped through some tired tackles, Muliaina was free to sprint clear and claim his hat-trick.

Dan Carter converted six of the seven tries, surpassing 2,000 career points in the process, and it was 47-7 at the break.

Garham Henry rang some changes in the second half, bring on Stephen Donald and Isaia Toeava, and it was Toeava who provided the scoring pass for Kahui within five minutes of the start of the second half.

Sione Lauaki and Keve Mealamu were the next to enter the fray as replacements, but neither were involved in the next try, a slick move up the right both started and finished by Stephen Donald.

More replacements followed, with Piri Weepu and Neemia Tialata next in, and Ali Williams was next in on the scoresheet after some more neat inter-passing down the right following a useful Donald kick.

Rudi Wulf butchered another try by trying to do a little too much before offloading the ball, having made a terrific break.

But by this point, the Samoan pack was exhausted.  They were pushed off their own ball twice at 5m scrums -- this still before the hour mark -- and at the third, a penalty try was awarded.

With a century in sight, the All Blacks became guilty of trying to force it a little too much.  Not enough rucking, too much speculative and loose passing.  Standard stuff for a team already 80 points to the good, but perhaps a little dissatisfying for Graham Henry, who had spoken at half-time of the need to finish things off and be a bit more clinical.

Tries from Toeava, Weepu -- a length of the field move after it had appeared Samoa might score again -- and then Samoa did score again, when a kick through by Mai was taken on by Alafoti Faosiliva to the line.  Roger Warren converted.

Stephen Donald was given the shot at goal to make it a century when Richard Kahui finished off a long passage of play in which the build-up was good but the finishing far from it.  He made it.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:
Tries:  Muliaina 3, Thomson, Smith 2, Cowan, Kahui 2, Donald, Williams, Kaino, penalty try, Toeava, Weepu
Cons:  Carter 6, Donald 7

For Samoa:
Tries:  Mai, Faosiliva
Cons:  Mai, Warren

The teams:

New Zealand:  15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Richard Kahui, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Anthony Tuitavake, 10 Dan Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Rodney So'oialo (c), 7 Adam Thomson, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Ali Willliams, 4 Anthony Boric, 3 Greg Somerville, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements:  16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Neemia Tialata, 18 Sione Lauaki, 19 Piri Weepu, 20 Stephen Donald, 21 Isaia Toeava, 22 Rudi Wulf.

Samoa:  15 Alatasi Tupou, 14 Reupena Levasa, 13 Pale Toelupe, 12 Jerry Meafou, 11 Esera Lauina, 10 Uale Mai, 9 Notise Tauafao, 8 George Stowers, 7 Alafoti Faosiliva, 6 Semo Sititi, 5 Chad Slade, 4 Filipo Levi (c), 3 Heroshi Tea, 2 Loleni Tafunai, 1 Simon Lemalu.
Replacements:  16 Lafoga Aoelua, 17 Roysiu Tolufale, 18 Maselino Paulino, 19 Simaika Mikaele, 20 Junior Poluleuligaga, 21 Roger Warren, 22 Romi Ropati.

Referee:  Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Touch judges:  James Leckie (Australia), Paul Marks (Australia)
Television match official:  Geoff Acton (Australia)
Assessor:  Stuart Beissel (New Zealand)