It’s taken ten years but the wait is now over. Australia has clinched the rugby Tri Nations with a thrilling 25-20 win over the World Cup favourites, New Zealand.
Newly promoted skipper James Horwill, in his first Test as Wallabies captain, joined his long-time idol in holding the trophy above his head.
The win has thrown next month’s Rugby World Cup wide open.
The match looked over in the first half after the Australian set up a 20-3 lead. However, the All Blacks fought back to level the scores 20 minutes from full time.
Beale got over the line to give the Wallabies a five-point lead but the Cooper conversion went astray.
The aggression and hunger was shown early by the Australians with sacked captain Rocky Elsom leading from the front. Robbie Deans was very pleased with how his former skipper competed and was confident that the big man wouldn’t drop his head.
The match was completely different to that played in New Zealand between the two giants of the world of rugby.
With the Australian win, there are now even more questions with the lead-up to next month when 20 sides go head to head with the aim to hold ‘Bill’ aloft.
New Zealand, going into tonight’s game, was extremely short favourites with bookmakers, but can they let go of the chokers’ tag?
Are the Wallabies now the side to beat in the Rugby World Cup? They have been improving game by game and slowly working their way into form needed to win the World Cup.
Then there is South Africa. Has time caught up with the Springboks and are they too old to win back to back?
At 15-1, England, the 2011 Six Nations champions, look to have the easiest draw out of the favoured countries with Argentina and Scotland their toughest opponents, Georgia, and Romania.
England at present, look more like they will need a further twelve months to be a Cup-winning team, but in saying that, they are proven performers, who will put up a good showing.
France and Ireland round off the others that could cause an upset, at 34-1 and 126-1 prior to the Wallabies win.
Matt in Norway
Guest
No...
Gerhard van Lamp
Guest
The winner of this WC is going to come from the AB-SA semi-final.
Blytherin
Guest
Aye Mr Ohtani's Jacket, that it is :-). But on a slightly more serious note it is much easier to be a little less one-eyed and parochial with thoughtful and intelligent contributors like yourself and Jerry.
camcallsthegame
Roar Pro
Follow me on Twitter @camcallsthegame and at www.camcallsthegame.com
Rugby Realist
Guest
Its NZ at 9pm at night, with conservative referees.....I think they have as good a chance as Aus, just slightly less than the ABs. If the Steyns get their superboots going and their defence and forwards fire they will be hard to stop, it will have to be a good performance to stop them. It worries me they are allowed under the radar. At least Fitzpatrick brought it up in a good article.... http://www.nzherald.co.nz/best-of-sport-analysis/news/article.cfm?c_id=1502180&objectid=10747905
ohtani's jacket
Guest
Funny how it's dominance and power when the Wallabiies do it.
baybum
Guest
ooh, run to the bookies....England are great value.
PeterK
Guest
The Boks could win the RWC, for them it depends if the refs continue to ref 2007 intepretations and dont force players to release and roll away. If the refs actually apply the laws they should be then I dont believe they have much chance. However I beleive the refs have reverted to bad habits.
camcallsthegame
Roar Pro
Does anyone think the Springboks are good enough to win the RWC? Too old?
Blytherin
Guest
Certainly agree re Barnes interpretations which definitely favored the way the Wallabies were playing on the night. In particular the WBs got a lot of latitude slowing the ball at the ruck. If it had been McCaw slowing down the WBs ball half as much I would have been screaming in disgust.
Postman Pat
Guest
I hope you are right Oakie. Hopefully we will not be in a position to fiind out!
Oakie
Guest
I don't think Genia is that mean, yet.
Jerry
Guest
Partly true, but the truth is always somewhere in between. On another day they could well have adapted quicker/not had to rearrange the forward pack etc, not been in Brisbane, not had a ref that was allowing a lot of piling in at the breakdown etc (not claiming the Wallabies cheated any more than the AB's, just that Barnes loose control of the breakdown helped the pressure game the Wallabies were playing).
PeterK
Guest
AB's only had a bad 1st half because the Wallabies were so dominant and powerful, they pressured them into mistakes and smashed them.
Postman Pat
Guest
So then, I have been saying it all along ... pretty boots, snazzy hair-dos and a heap of talent does not equate to winning the big games. Like most of NZ I am hoping in my heart that NZ will wn the world cup; but my head tells me otherwise. We just do not seem to be able to close out those big games; the games that really count. Under pressure in the last five minutes, the option taking was inconsistant (like the kick back to Wallabies in last minutes), reminiscent of our loss to France in 2006. Another factor here is timing; has Deans got it right. Yes, I live in Canterbury, and yes you can call me whataever you like - but Deans is doing something special with this Wallabies side and it looks to me just the same he did with the Crusaders. Worrying to say the least. Deans knows how to win the big games and peak his team when it really counts. Yes Aussie lost to Samoa; but look at them now. Yes, the All Blacks only lost by five - but thats my point. I am picking and NZ- Aus final, but if it comes down to the last five minutes for a result ... I hope at the end we dont hear Genia proclaim to our boys those ever deafening and deep cutting words ... "four more years boys, four more years"!
Bazza all black
Guest
Genia is one classy player, wepu was terrible , slow slow slow Who knew the Aussies could menace the breakdown. The ref was very good, tmo not so much...
Bazza all black
Guest
I would be very worried if the ab s had not come back in 2nd half..5 points is not a big margin. If Aussies had put another 20 points on us there will be national panic. Really showed though, all it takes is one game and being off , that the gap between our two teams are not good... Also that kicking all your points are really important!
Snobby Deans
Guest
All of the serious RWC title contenders have a chance, that's the beauty of the RWC. Even Ireland, who've lost all 4 warm-up games, can go pretty well. They'll be more of a handful for the Wallabies than most people think, as will Wales for the Sth Africans and France for the All Blacks. The one thing that's tripped the Wallabies up over the years is that they talk themselves up, only to get beaten down. It didn't happen last night, but without taking anything away from them, you'd have to go a way back to find a poorer All Black first half. Eden Park isn't Suncorp Stadium, and the whole atmosphere will be different there. Robbie Deans said it best when he talked about the Wallabies needing to earn the right to make the final. That applies for all teams. '07 taught us that if you don't play the full 80 minutes, you'll be out no matter what favouritism or IRB ranking you have.