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There were moments during the Brisbane Test when I thought the Bledisloe Cup and Tri-Nations were lost to New Zealand. Jonathan Kaplan was whistling up a storm at the breakdown, not allowing time for a real contest on the ground, so there was never a margin for the All Black loose forwards to gain their usual advantage.
Kaplan was also a little too sympathetic to the Australian front-rowers at scrum time, so two areas where the All Blacks typically dominate weren’t as telling in New Zealand’s favour as they normally are.
Quick hands by Jerome Kaino and Ma’a Nonu had created an overlap for Mils Muliaina to score, after a quick tap by Jimmy Cowan had sucked in the Australian cover defence, but the Wallabies had erased the All Blacks’ early lead with two tries either side of half-time and looked to have an unstoppable momentum.
Then The Blonde, a soothsayer of sorts, said “they should get the ball to Woodcock, he’ll score.” At the time I wrote it off as a bit too fanciful… she was remembering his four other test tries, all against Australia, and was probably assuming he had some mystical extra power exclusive to trans-Tasman encounters.
Well, about three minutes later when Conrad Smith gathered a wild pass from broken play and suddenly galloped into space, who do you suppose was on his shoulder for the final draw-and-pass? Tony Woodcock, that’s who, and he sprinted in at the left-hand corner like a slightly less graceful Jonah Lomu. I didn’t see The Blonde’s immediate reaction because I was in my fighting crouch, screaming at the television, but I high-fived her respectfully afterwards. I thought briefly about asking who would score next, but clairvoyance is a dangerous thing to flirt with and her eyes are sometimes particularly satanic during Bledisloe matches… she’d successfully predicted the loss in Sydney and the win in Auckland this year.
Woodcock’s try brought the All Blacks back to within three points at 14-17, and reinforced any wavering resolve at a crucial moment. Like four million other New Zealanders, I tried to stay calm and placed my well-being willingly once again in the All Blacks’ hands.
The momentum was wholly reversed when the All Blacks scored again. A bust by Rodney So’oialo got the Wallabies back-pedalling again, and then Sitiveni Sivivatu probed the fringes to find another small gap. He was tackled but landed well, looked around for support and offloaded from the deck for substitute halfback Piri Weepu who cantered through the haemorrhaging defence to give New Zealand the lead.
Pounding away at the Australian line again five minutes later, the All Blacks were looking to deliver the coup de grace. Smashing into the Wallabies under the goalposts they recycled ball neatly, and Dan Carter picked his moment yet again. Running straight at Ryan Cross he dropped his shoulder and pivoted, to almost effortlessly slip the rugby league-style tackle, and ran back around under the sticks with his arm raised in triumph.
At 28-17 there was little chance of a decisive comeback by the Wallabies, although Cross did make amends of sorts by crashing over handy to the posts in the dying minutes, which made for a dramatic crescendo. There were the obligatory fearful moments that mark the end of every all-time-great test… a heroic turnover by George Smith giving the Wallabies one final chance at glory when, really, the All Blacks should have been able to run down the clock comfortably… but the fitness levels told in the end when there were twice as many tacklers in black jerseys as there were ball-carriers in gold.
I have the Bledisloe Cup sitting right here beside me in the War Room, thanks (a) to the All Blacks for successfully defending it and (b) to the NZRU’s generous policy of occasionally lending it for promotional purposes. One of my responsibilities while it’s in my custody is to polish it, which I’ve already done with great relish. Afterwards I sat up all night staring at it, like a dragon lying on a bed of jewels in its cave.
At first, intoxicated a little by its lustre, the Blonde and I thought covetously about christening it in a way that hadn’t been done before, but it wasn’t just the probability that others might have thought or even done the same thing that stopped us. It was that it would have been disrespectful to do so, not having earned the right. The All Blacks had bled for it on the nation’s behalf… it would be like wearing Charlie Upham’s medals.
Now, with the Bledisloe Cup and Tri Nations trophy retained, the All Blacks can reflect on a successful southern winter with great pride. There is still the small matter of a Grand Slam tour in November to come, along with a mid-week match against the Heineken Cup champions in Munster and a fourth Bledisloe test in Hong Kong… that match in particular being no walk in the park, with the possibility of the Bledisloe series score being levelled without the trophy actually being up for grabs.
The cabinet at headquarters is almost full, but we don’t get another shot at the World Cup for another three years, and with Robbie Deans in charge of the Wallabies we’ll be nervously looking over our shoulders every year until then. He has turned around a team in disarray and given them their character back.
That’s where the real lustre of this Cup sitting beside me now comes from, that teeth-grinding intensity whenever it is played for. The New Zealand and Australian unions should agree in advance on the Bledisloe being up for grabs, if the All Blacks and Wallabies meet in the 2011 World Cup… seeing as, on current form, those two teams are almost guaranteed to contest the final.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.