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The Wallabies have defeated the All Blacks in a gripping Tri Nations final at Suncorp Stadium 25 points to 20, breaking a ten year Tri Nations drought.
In James Horwill’s first Test as captain, the Wallabies went to the break leading 20 points to 3, after overwhelming an All Blacks side in the first half in front of a crowd of 51,858.
Tries in the first half went to Will Genia and Radike Samo, with Quade Cooper converting both and hitting two penalties.
But within 20 minutes of the second half, the All Blacks had scored 17 points and levelled the match 20 all.
After the break, Dan Carter hit a penalty, then shortly after Conrad Smith crossed the line for an easy try.
In the worst outcome possible, Ma’a Nonu scored again for the All Blacks six minutes later.
The successful conversion levelled the scores at 20 points all.
But with the game slipping from their hands, the Wallabies mustered the ball, Genia scooted past the referee Barnes, into a gap and offloaded to Digby Ioane, who then passed to Beale just before the line for a try.
A gripping but less expansive period unfolded with the Wallabies and All Blacks looking to reserves to get them over the line.
A last minute attack from the All Blacks was nullified after a pass was intercepted by the Wallabies. The forwards hung onto the ball before a penalty right on fulltime saw Australia defeat New Zealand and win the Tri Nations. The last time Australia held the trophie, Will Genia was a 13 year old boy.
Earlier in the first half, Radike Samo scored a memorable try by making one of season’s best breaks, which he finished with a sprint to the line. Samo’s speed was like a man running in a dream, but he somehow got his old legs over the line before the defence hit him.
Watch Samo’s try:
The Wallabies regain the Tri Nations title and go into the Rugby World Cup with form on the board. Amazingly, the All Blacks go into a home Rugby World Cup with two losses in a row and far from being favourites.
Relive the game as it unfolded on our live blog.
Watch video highlights of the match
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August 27th 2011 @ 10:10pm
Tuapou said | August 27th 2011 @ 10:10pm | Report comment
Guess this proves 2 things- wallabies dont need JOC, ABs need SBW. lol!!!
August 27th 2011 @ 10:52pm
Snobby Deans said | August 27th 2011 @ 10:52pm | Report comment
SBW? So you’d get rid of Conrad Smith or Maa Nonu, the two AB tryscorers?
August 28th 2011 @ 1:09am
Tuapou said | August 28th 2011 @ 1:09am | Report comment
Yeh i would get rid of smith. SBW and nonu must be united. Not only are they both samoan but they are both powerful runners and we need more beef around the centres to compensate against the very physical sides.
August 28th 2011 @ 5:23am
Jerry said | August 28th 2011 @ 5:23am | Report comment
Smith was one of the best players on the pitch last night, are you mental? If it weren’t for him, I suspect the AB’s might have been 30 points down at half time. And he scored one try and set up the other.
August 28th 2011 @ 7:36am
katzilla said | August 28th 2011 @ 7:36am | Report comment
Not to mention the try saving tackle on McCabe
August 28th 2011 @ 7:12am
Snobby Deans said | August 28th 2011 @ 7:12am | Report comment
Tuapou – So part of the reason SBW should partner Nonu is because he’s Samoan? I wonder what the reaction would be if someone said lets put another white player in to replace Nonu because Smith is white? Not sure I really see how his race should affect his selection in any way.
August 27th 2011 @ 10:12pm
Mals said | August 27th 2011 @ 10:12pm | Report comment
Well done Wallabies good win & finally the Tri Nations trophy after 10 long years! Terrific fight back by the All Blacks and it took at great line break by Genia for the Wallabies to clinch it.
Goal kicking still a concern for the Wallabies, 2 missed kicks from Cooper kept the ABs within touching distance. I hope Cooper & O’Connor do hours of goal kicking practise back in camp.
August 27th 2011 @ 10:13pm
League_Coach101 said | August 27th 2011 @ 10:13pm | Report comment
Interesting to see how the All Blacks switched game plan at half time and then went on to win the second half easily. That’s what would be worrying the Wallabies. The clock won them the tri-nations tonight – I wouldn’t be reading too much else into it.
Besides – did anyone else get the impression that the All Blacks didn’t really care about the Tri-Nations this year? I mean sending a second string team to South Africa… c’mon what’s that all about?
August 27th 2011 @ 10:24pm
Cicero said | August 27th 2011 @ 10:24pm | Report comment
The South Africans sent a second string team to Australasia. Are you saying they didn’t care either and only the Aussies did. Interesting theory
August 27th 2011 @ 11:13pm
Gerhard van Lamp said | August 27th 2011 @ 11:13pm | Report comment
Yes that’s exactly right actually!
August 28th 2011 @ 7:17am
Snobby Deans said | August 28th 2011 @ 7:17am | Report comment
Cicero – good point. The reality is that if the Wallabies don’t win the RWC, then the Tri-Nations will really be nothing more than a consolation prize. Don’t get me wrong, I’d still have loved the All Blacks to have won it, but that seems to be the prevaling thinking.
You only have to look at the fact that the Wallabies played their best team each week whereas the other teams played second string teams (Sth Africa twice, All Blacks once). The same thing happened with Sth Africa in ’07 and will in all likelihood happen again in ’15 unless SANZAR grow a pair – but it’s in the record books.
The Tri-Nations is no more (four nations next year), and finishes with NZ 10, Sth Africa and Aussie 3 each. At least the win allowed the Wallabies not to have claimed the Wooden Spoon in that regard.
August 27th 2011 @ 10:24pm
Ryan said | August 27th 2011 @ 10:24pm | Report comment
Rubbish. It’s an 80 minute game, always has been. Winning 2nd half doesn’t mean anything and Wallabies holding on for a win against number one team is something to be proud of.
August 27th 2011 @ 10:43pm
Jerry said | August 27th 2011 @ 10:43pm | Report comment
No, the AB’s played awfully but still had enough to come back and win the second half. And that’s about as well as the Aussie could possibly play whereas there’s a lot of improvement in the AB’s.
This may or may not be the exact thing many Wallaby fans said after the first Bledisloe match, with the teams reversed….
August 27th 2011 @ 11:40pm
Ryan said | August 27th 2011 @ 11:40pm | Report comment
ABs were smashed in the first half, give credit where it’s due. ABs did very well in the second half to try to regain control but the damage was done and Wallabies held on for a great win
August 27th 2011 @ 11:57pm
mattamkII said | August 27th 2011 @ 11:57pm | Report comment
rubbish Jerry.
August 28th 2011 @ 5:21am
Jerry said | August 28th 2011 @ 5:21am | Report comment
Did you happen to miss the second sentence Matta? I wasn’t being serious, I was just trotting out the line Wallaby fans used earlier in the season.
August 28th 2011 @ 8:15am
mikeylives said | August 28th 2011 @ 8:15am | Report comment
A comment that may have been lost on people that don’t read the threads daily.
August 28th 2011 @ 12:27pm
Jerry said | August 28th 2011 @ 12:27pm | Report comment
They’d have had to not read the boards at all, considering how often it was trotted out.
August 28th 2011 @ 12:20am
PeterK said | August 28th 2011 @ 12:20am | Report comment
Wallabies will easily get better with the better injured players coming back.
August 28th 2011 @ 12:50am
Flash said | August 28th 2011 @ 12:50am | Report comment
didn’t the wallabies win the 2nd half at eden park? i guess you must of mentioned that a couple a weeks back sorry must of missed it! i guess the AB’s were worried about the 2nd half eden park loss coming into this game so that explains why they lost the first half so easily this time.
LC101 i think they were just beaten by a better team i mean richie & henry were pretty pissed at the end of the game. maybe you’re a bit of a sore loser mate.
the haka was a waste of time again! lets just get on with the game after the anthems….next thing you know the irish will be doing jigs and the scots will pull out the bagpipes
August 28th 2011 @ 8:56am
League_Coach101 said | August 28th 2011 @ 8:56am | Report comment
I’m just saying it’s unfortunate that two of the three teams in the Tri-Nations this year didn’t take it seriously. Possibly the Wallabies were going to employ the same tactic – but after being smashed by Samoa in their first test of the season they had no choice but to put their BEST team on the paddock each week.
It certainly is a great morale boost to the Wallabies – that’s for sure. As for the All Blacks – losing is probably the best motivation they could get leading into the World Cup. It’s interesting how the NZ Media is treating this like the sky is falling… a little over reaction perhaps.
On a side note – it’s interesting to note that each previous WORLD CUP YEAR the winner of the Tri-Nations has not even made the World Cup Final. In 1999, 2003 and 2007 the ALL BLACKS won the tri-nations and then went on to choke the world cup. Maybe THAT’S what Graham Henry had in mind…
August 27th 2011 @ 10:14pm
IronAwe said | August 27th 2011 @ 10:14pm | Report comment
What a game!!! Best forwards display by aus in absolute years. Well done everyone, fantastic. Man I hope it’s an aus v nz final. Bring on Bill!!!!
August 27th 2011 @ 10:14pm
Who Needs Melon said | August 27th 2011 @ 10:14pm | Report comment
They say absence makes the heart grow fonder… and I’m in rapture at the moment so I guess that is true.
What a match. Now THAT is why I watch rugby.
And sweet, sweet justification for all of us that have been crying out for Samo to get a run. He’s not too bad really, is he? Genia was also outstanding as usual BUT, to be honest, the best part of a win like this is that it’s NOT about player A or player B but about the functioning of the team as a unit… and I think they did that really well tonight – really seemed to be playing for each other.
August 28th 2011 @ 10:34pm
Mike said | August 28th 2011 @ 10:34pm | Report comment
Spot on Melon. Team, team, team. So sweet to watch.
August 27th 2011 @ 10:14pm
MattB said | August 27th 2011 @ 10:14pm | Report comment
AB’s will still be favourites for WC, as they have been for the last 4 tournaments.
I agree Katzilla, the best 40 I have seen in a long long time.
August 27th 2011 @ 10:18pm
Jerry said | August 27th 2011 @ 10:18pm | Report comment
FFS.
I’m not even gonna bother.
August 27th 2011 @ 10:15pm
Blanco said | August 27th 2011 @ 10:15pm | Report comment
I thought the game was over when Ali williams came on as a replacement loose forward but he was so good!
August 27th 2011 @ 10:19pm
Munungu said | August 27th 2011 @ 10:19pm | Report comment
Two in a row. Yeah all blacks didn’t care about the tri-nations… Bahahahaha bahahahaha!
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August 27th 2011 @ 10:19pm
bruski said | August 27th 2011 @ 10:19pm | Report comment
Great performance. Particularly considering the awesome display the AB”s put up in the 40 -60 minute mark. Great to see the Wallabies counter the change of tactics and hit back themselves.
The defence as I eluded too earlier in the blog was on the money, great work. Great aggression, vickerman had a great game and thought he really pumped the boys up in the first half but felt that they left a lot of that energy on the field at halftime. Hype can only last so long before you have to grind it out and that is exactly what they did.
Quade was brilliant but restrained at the same time and Genia was as usual magic. The big mention must go to young Radike, how good was he with those mid-field breaks and try – Amazing and then include his defence and multiple hits in the same play he was a big part of this win.
I really liked our centre defence, reminded me a lot of the reds plus the defence at the posts of the rucks we were very eager. I think this is a great way to finish the season and move into the WC, now we can continue building with a mind to keep up aggression as it worked for us. Perhaps the Wallabies have forgotten that in the recent past but it looks like this team have realised that we need to be more than aggressive, we have to be fully committed to the idea of it.
August 27th 2011 @ 10:20pm
sheek said | August 27th 2011 @ 10:20pm | Report comment
It was a terrific test match.
Interestingly, I think both teams will be satisfied with the result. While the ABs never like giving away freebies, coach Henry won’t mind using this result to reinforce the message to his troops, not that they need it reinforced, that there are no sure things in sport.
The ABs have also had two close defeats now before the world cup starts. Perhaps that’s not such a bad thing for them.
The Wallas no doubt will derive enormous confidence from this match, but Deans also has the problem now of keeping the emotions of his younger players in check. It’s happened before that the Wallas have got carried away with a win. They need to remain focused.
Will the Wallas be able to continue their momentum, or will this win make them relax just a little, dangerously little?
This result (25-20) is a promoter’s dream. Perhaps in just over a month from now, these same two teams could be facing off in the final of the world cup. Won’t that be something!
August 27th 2011 @ 10:30pm
Frank O'Keeffe said | August 27th 2011 @ 10:30pm | Report comment
SHEEK! MATE! TRI NATIONS CHAMPIONS! WHOO!
It really was a terrific match.
Perhaps it will help New Zealand, like Australia’s loss to New Zealand in 1991 helped them. The Wallabies can’t be lulled into a false sense of security.
And if nothing else, the All Blacks know when the pressure is on they can get rid of the mistakes and grind out results. I thought the All Blacks were incredibly impressive. I mean they controlled possession.
If there’s one thing to take out of that game, it’s that possession is a must.
CONGRATULATIONS TO US! TRI NATIONS CHAMPIONS!
August 28th 2011 @ 7:15am
sheek said | August 28th 2011 @ 7:15am | Report comment
Frank,
Yes, 1991 is a classic example of a win providing false comfort for the ABs prior to the WC. Ditto 2003.
The Wallas were cocky when they had no right to be in Auckland recently. It would be fatal if the team thought they didn’t need to find any extra improvement.
Despite the many good things the Wallabies did, there were also some disturbing aspects for the Wallabies:
1. Samo’s try came when Samo himself busted Thompson’s tackle, whose left arm was injured. An enormously lucky advantage to the Wallas.
2. The lineout, usually good, was wonky.
3. The way the ABs strangled the Wallas for the first 20-25 minutes almost at will in the second half, was disturbing, to say the least. They also monstered our scrum, when the intent was there.
But on the surface, it’s all good…..
August 28th 2011 @ 11:22am
AdamS said | August 28th 2011 @ 11:22am | Report comment
Was it just me or did Cooper just stand there holding the gate open for Nonus try?
August 28th 2011 @ 12:29pm
Jerry said | August 28th 2011 @ 12:29pm | Report comment
He’s got that move down, doesn’t he?