All Blacks off to flying start
Sat, 18 Jul 2009 11:13
Try time: Richie McCaw scores for the All Blacks
The All Blacks continued their impressive run at Eden Park, when they kicked their Tri-Nations title defence off to winning start with a 22-16 victory over the Wallabies in Auckland on Saturday.
The visitors got off to a fantastic start after Berrick Barnes crossed the whitewash with less than five minutes gone. However, after taking a significant lead into the second quarter of the match the Wallabies failed to sustain their effort and allowed the All Blacks back into the game.
The Wallabies looked much more settled than the All Blacks especially in the first half and with Stephen Donald misfiring in the early stages the Aussies were playing most of the rugby.
With their line-outs under severe pressure in the first half, the All Blacks were unable to string together significant passages of play and it prompted Graham Henry to introduce Keven Mealamu early in the second half.
Donald narrowly beat Luke McAlister to the No. 10 jersey in the All Blacks starting lineup and upheld his selection by kicking a conversion and five penalties to lead New Zealand's comeback from a 3-13 first half deficit.
Donald's conversion of captain Richie McCaw's first half try cut the Wallabies' lead to 13-10 at halftime and he added four penalties in the second spell, answered by a single penalty from his opposite Matt Giteau, to engineer New Zealand's victory.
The All Blacks' victory extended their winning streak at Eden Park to 20 test matches and lengthened their winning run over the Wallabies at the Auckland stadium to 11 matches spanning 23 years.
They increased their chances of retaining the Tri-Nations title they have claimed for the past four years.
"At the end of the day there's very little between these teams," McCaw said. "The team that wants to dig deepest is the team that will always come out on top in the end in a match like that." Australia seemed on course to break its losing run at Auckland when it built a 13-3 lead inside the first 20 minutes.
Inside center Barnes scored a brilliant try four minutes into the match, running back a poor 22-meter restart by Donald and eluding weak All Black tackles on a 20-meter run to the line.
Giteau converted the try and kicked consecutive penalties to give Australia a 10-0 lead before Donald had his first kicking success to put New Zealand on the board after 14 minutes.
Australia had the chance to put the match beyond New Zealand's reach in the 17th minute when it charged down a clearing kick from Donald and mounted a concerted raid on the All Blacks' goalline.
A try seemed inevitable until a pass between Barnes and flanker George Smith went to ground, blemishing Smith's 100th test appearance for Australia.
The lost opportunity proved a turning point in the game.
Although Giteau goaled again in the 20th minute to give Australia a 13-3 lead, the momentum in the match swung New Zealand's way.
McCaw scored a 25th-minute try, taking an in-pass from center Conrad Smith after a concerted All Blacks buildup and Donald's conversion slashed the Australian lead to 13-10 at halftime.
Donald tied the scores with a penalty in the first minute of the second spell and put New Zealand ahead for the first time in the match with his third goal two minutes later.
Giteau tied the scores amid a flurry of penalties in the fourth minute of the second half but Donald's 60th-minute goal gave New Zealand a 19-16 lead, and he cemented the win with his final penalty eight minutes from fulltime.
After a slow start, New Zealand began winning the contest for possession at the breakdown, managing the turnaround through McCaw's leadership. The All Blacks gradually assumed superiority over the Wallabies scrum and won the battle for territory and for disputed possession.
"Our discipline let us down, especially playing into the wind in the second half," Wallabies captain Stirling Mortlock said. "When you give a team as good as the All Blacks that many opportunities, you can't expect to win."
Man of the match: Wallaby centurion George Smith was a menace at the breakdown and was most certainly the dominant force at this crucial area of the game while Berrick Barnes showed some neat touches as well. Hard-working No.8 Rodney So'oialo provided an important line-out option for the hosts, while skipper Richie McCaw also made a big contribution. However, All Blacks pivot, Stephen Donald was under a lot of pressure heading into this game and after a shaky start he found the composure to steer the All Blacks to a morale-boosting victory.
Moment of the match: Donald's second-last penalty could come into contention but captain Richie McCaw's try put the All Blacks back in the match and provided the spark for what was an impressive Kiwi comeback.
Villain for the match: Nobody
The Scorers:
For New Zealand:
Try: McCaw
Con: Donald
Pens: Donald 5
For Australia
Try: Barnes
Con: Giteau
Pens: Giteau 3
Teams:
New Zealand: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Stephen Donald, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Rodney So'oialo, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Isaac Ross, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock.
Replacements: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Owen Franks, 18 Jason Eaton, 19 Kieran Read, 20 Piri Weepu, 21 Luke McAlister, 22 Josevata Rokocoko.
Australia: 15 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 14 Lachie Turner, 13 Stirling Mortlock (captain), 12 Berrick Barnes,
11 Drew Mitchell, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 George Smith, 6 Richard Brown, 5 Nathan Sharpe, 4 James Horwill, 3 Al Baxter, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Ben Alexander, 18 Dean Mumm, 19 Phil Waugh, 20 David Pocock, 21 Will Genia, 22 James O'Connor.
Referee: Craig Joubert (South Africa)
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