ABs swamp shocked Aussies
Sat, 02 Aug 2008 11:47
Double trouble: Past and present Kiwi captains Rodney So\'oialo and Richie McCaw
Graham Henry's All Blacks transformed their game in a week to overrun an ineffective Australian side and record a bonus point win in a 39-10 Tri-Nations rout at Eden Park in Auckland.
What a change around! What a huge difference in a single week! Whatever the Wallabies had done well in Sydney, the All Blacks did well in Auckland - only more so. Much more so. It was a case of Anything you can do I can do better.
This was a huge, emphatic victory which must scare all future opponents. The Wallabies in fact had very, very little of the game.
The key to the New Zealand victory was contesting. They had been beaten for the tackle ball in Sydney; this time they flung their men with reckless intent and won the tackle hands down. They missed tackles in Sydney; they flew into tackles in Auckland and missed hardly any. They kicked little and anemically in Sydney; they kicked with guile and kept their side going forward in Auckland. They avoided line-outs in Sydney; they happily conceded line-outs in Auckland and then contested them. They missed scoring opportunities in Sydney; they grabbed them in Auckland. Where in Sydney, Daniel Carter seemed to be playing on his own, this time the team got cracking and Ma'a Nonu, so clumsy and sluggish in Sydney, was at his best in Auckland.
The line-outs were interesting. The Wallabies went into the match with the two short fetchers, George Smith and Phil Waugh, perhaps to counter Richie McCaw but that may have been the start of their line-out problems. In Sydney they had only five chances to throw the ball in and won their ball untroubled. This time they threw in 24 times, lost eight and threw one in skew - apart from the times they had to extract themselves from a mess. Their only try came from a rare clean line-out. The Wallabies did not win a New Zealand line-out.
Perhaps they were overly concerned about McCaw. At the very first tackle of the match - on Stirling Mortlock - Waugh dived past the tackle area and tackled McCaw around the ankles. Soon afterwards Al Baxter turned his hand in McCaw's face as the All Black captain lay on the ground. But then Waugh got comeuppance. He went into McCaw and accidental elbow left him groggy.
This time it was the Wallabies' turn to kick poorly. They got little ball but preferred to kick when counterattack was possible and Matt Giteau's diagonals got nowhere. In fact the last one, when time was up, produced a try for the All Blacks 60 metres down the field. The All Blacks on the other hand kicked cleverly and with variety, making sure that the Wallabies were always on the defensive, always turning back to the ball.
The scrums were no improvement on last week, except that there were fewer of them. Last week there were 16, this week 11, but every single one of the 11 collapsed. The Wallabies did not put the ball into a single scrum in the first half.
The weather mercifully did not play an unequal part. The rain laid off, the field had drained well from earlier rain and the wind did not give unfair advantage. There was nothing in the weather that Australia could use as an excuse. Maybe they felt hard done by when their anthem singer wore All Blacks black. Maybe the All Blacks signalled their intent with their changed haka which Murray Mexted described as "so graphic, so impressive". And as they made the haka the crowd cheered.
The Wallabies had the best of the opening minutes as Giteau broke and Rodney So'oialo went in at the side of a tackle. Giteau goaled. 3-0 after 3 minutes. Here endeth Wallaby domination.
Two minutes later George Smith went in the side and Carter levelled the scores. Smith gave away 12 points through penalties in the match, the last a high tackle for which he was lucky not to be sent to the sin bin. Smith went in the side again and Carter gave the All Blacks the lead at 6-3, which they did not look like losing for the rest of the match. This second Carter penalty came after the All Blacks had bashed at the Wallaby line from a line-out with Ali Williams and Tony Woodcock close.
The Wallabies tried to do a clever move at the front of a defensive line-out but conceded a free kick and the All Blacks attacked with Nonu providing the thrust. Jerome Kaino was right at the line and then So'oialo gave a short pass to Woodcock who swooped low and plunged the short distance for the try which Carter converted. 13-3 after 21 minutes.
It took little time for the All Blacks to score again. From the kick-off Jimmy Cowan kicked twice. Adam Ashley-Cooper tried to be clever but failed, yielding a five-metre line-out to the All Blacks. Andrew Hore threw deep to Williams who from the top threw back to Woodcock who burst through the gap and scored as James Horwill and Stephen Moore tried in vain to stop him. 18-3 after 23 minutes.
Woodcock had scored two tries. A prop. In 1958 Wilson Whineray, who was watching the match, scored two tries against Australia. History does repeat itself!
Australia's try was the best of the match. After Cowan, on defence, had lobbed a kick out near the 22, the Wallabies threw deep and played off the top. Burgess threw a long pass to Giteau who threw a perfect skip pass to Mortlock who drifted with the pass outside of Conrad Smith who barely touched him. Mortlock straightened and gave Ashley-Cooper an easy run-in with Lote Tuqiri spare on his outside. 18-10 after 31 minutes. It was more than Australia deserved, just as the Sydney half-time score had been more than New Zealand deserved.
For a while the Wallabies spirits rose and for the only time in the match the All Blacks fell off tackles. When So'oialo chipped Luke Burgess returned the kick with huge interest and the All Blacks had a throw in five metres from their line, but Richard Kahui set them back on the attack and a repeat of the Woodcock move at a line-out had the All Blacks battering again. Again Smith was penalised and again Carter goaled.
Nonu went on a burst and McCaw kicked a grubber which Ashley-Cooper bravely saved. The All Blacks were close but Williams knocked on six metres from the line and half-time came at 21-10.
Nonu broke strongly past Berrick Barnes but the movement died. The Wallabies battled at a line-out on their left and McCaw smashed into Burgess, creating loose ball which Hore snapped up. The ball went left with Nonu twice involved. The handling was not smooth but when Nonu got the ball the second time he dummied and plunged over for a try with Waugh unable to stop him. Carter converted. 28-10.
The Wallabies had their first scrum after 45 minutes in the match and, as they had done at the line-out, they easily produced an overlap but they were not getting ball enough to do it enough. They bashed from a free kick but did not look like getting through and eventually conceded a free kick. That was the end of any threat from the Wallabies.
From now on substitutions happened regularly till the All Blacks used all their players.
When Daniel Vickerman was penalised for being offside at a tackle, Carter made it 31-10 after 57 minutes. When George Smith tackled Conrad Smith high, Carter made it 34-10.
Time was up and the Wallabies had the ball and looked as if they wanted to score a try till Giteau chipped on the diagonal and Sivivatu put Nonu clear on left. He raced 60 metres down the field just getting over in Tuqiri's covering tackle, a try which the television match official confirmed.
Man of the Match: The candidates are All Blacks. Ma'a Nonu was powerful, Rodney So'oialo was better, Jimmy Cowan was excellent, efficient and judicious, Mils Muliaina and Richie McCaw and Ali Williams and Tony Woodcock and Andrew Hore - they were all outstanding. But, though he may not have made the breaks he did in Sydney, our Man of the Match is Daniel Carter, the conductor who did so much to orchestrate the victory.
Moment of the Match: While the Wallabies try was the most beautiful, the one that counted most and may well count most in the whole Tri-Nations was Ma'a Nonu's thrilling run down the left touch-line with Lote Tuqiri closing in.
Villain of the Match: George Smith for the points he conceded and for trying to mislead the referee when he tackled high.
The scorers:
For New Zealand:
Try: Woodcock 2, Nonu 2
Con: Carter 2
Pen: Carter 5
For Australia:
Try: Ashley-Cooper
Con: Giteau
Pen: Giteau
Teams:
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 (captain), 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, 18 Anthony Boric, 19 Adam Thomson, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Anthony Tuitavake..
Australia: 15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Peter Hynes, 13 Stirling Mortlock (captain), 12 Berrick Barnes, 11 Lote Tuqiri, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 George Smith, 6 Phil Waugh, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 James Horwill, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Daniel Vickerman, 19 Hugh McMeniman, 20 Sam Cordingley, 21 Ryan Cross, 22 Drew Mitchell.
Referee: Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Touch judges: Craig Joubert (South Africa), James Bolabiu (Fiji)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
