With the Olympics fever still lingering, the Rugby Championship kicked off in Sydney with an absolute stunner as the world champion New Zealand All Blacks continued their dominance post-World Cup with a thrilling 27-19 victory over long-time nemesis the Wallabies.
The rustiness of both teams was uncovered, with a myriad of handling errors mainly coming from the men in gold, gifting the men in black with favourable chances.
As expected, the spotlight on a particular individual was immediate when superstar Sonny Bill Williams was given the team’s confidence of sparking a counter-attack directly from the kick-off inside the red zone.
Unfortunately, a trademark off-load off-balanced to right wing Cory Jane was deemed a forward pass.
Credit to coach Steve Hansen in going for the jugular right from the start and instructing his boys to have a go and test the situation in front of them, rather than the usual conservative approach that we would’ve anticipated.
Sadly though, an over-eager match official just couldn’t help himself getting into the action to play his part in the big show.
Pedantic referee Alain Rolland may have got a little too excited and decided to ruin the spectacle. He should’ve been disqualified, while the All Blacks’ display was deserving of a gold medal.
You’d think they’d have fixed the scrum issues, yet there might as well not be a scrum if the whistle constantly blows up at every engagement. It’s an on-going, frustrating aspect which rugby does not need and is turning more people away from the game.
Nevertheless, the players of both nations deserved the accolades for producing another great atmosphere and turning the game into an interesting battle as it went down to the wire – which is exactly what happened at ANZ Stadium.
The Wallabies will rue their chance of losing a margin bonus point for their brave efforts smackbang on fulltime, when the world’s best five-eighth Dan Carter stamped home his final penalty with an exclamation mark.
Carter was instrumental and simply showed why he is the best, when he was sorely missed in the latter stages of last year’s World Cup finals.
But it is amazing how the Australians could even compare their captain David Pocock to the great Richie McCaw.
The inspirational All Blacks skipper has been around a long, long time and had been painted unfairly as a ‘cheat’, particularly echoing from the envious, grudging and jealous land of the ex-convicts.
Pocock comes onto the scene and barely sweats on his debut and suddenly he is hailed as the master of the breakdown. Plain typical of the Aussie media hype and mentality.
As far as this writer is concerned, it is a total mismatch and McCaw is still in a league of his own. As much as the former Western Force captain is a pretty good player himself, McCaw is all class by a long way.
Even now he has added an extra dimension to his game, with his powerful ball carries that would put the likes of Rocky Elsom, Wycliff Palu and Radike Samo – who themselves are renowned for their barnstorming runs – to shame.
Perhaps Wallabies coach Robbie Deans was stretching it a tad too far when he rated Pocock as the best openside flanker in the world.
That may have triggered his rival Hansen’s unusual mind games at press conferences to return the favour in terms of Deans’ selection policy, namely the surprised absence of flamboyant playmaker Quade Cooper.
Whatever the barbs between these two, Hansen is merely reminding his counterpart who is the real deal and the boss at the breakdown, as he will do everything in his power to be very protective of his magnificent leader.
As it turned out, the weekend’s Bledisloe clash was a massive points victory for McCaw over Pocock. May the lessons long continue.
The All Blacks line-up almost resembled a rugby dream team, especially with the intimidating midfield pairing of Williams and Ma’a Nonu, along with the fearsome back three of Israel Dagg, Cory Jane and Hosea Gear – whom Wallaby winger Adam Ashley Cooper correctly predicted beforehand would be a ‘deadly combination’ – this backline already looks to have regained the tag of the best in the world.
Even when Sonny Bill waves sayonara, another world-class player in Conrad Smith steps into the vacant spot.
The Wallabies may have thought they did their homework with aplomb, marking the dangerous Williams at every opportunity. What they didn’t see coming though, was the clever ploy of the All Blacks using both hulking centres as decoy runners in set moves. The two brilliant tries to Dagg and Jane ensured that their ‘contribution’ was not going to waste.
The New Zealand forwards provided the perfect platform and were once again ruthless at the breakdown, led by McCaw and the outstanding Keven Mealamu, who had a terrific game, not to mention guiding an impressive lineout.
Liam Messam was tough in the trenches and his support play was superb, although he may regret a few crucial decisions when the All Blacks were hot in attack. However, to keep Victor Vito out all game was testament to his involvement.
Kieran Read showed why he is the number one No.8 and put his stamp in the match with a ferocious tackle on Pocock, who is now out of the Eden Park return clash due to a knee injury.
Overall, the All Blacks will know they could’ve won by a more convincing margin had they ‘completed their sets’ – to borrow from a rugby league perspective. Dagg’s majestic run before passing to no man’s land, Messam’s wayward pass from a Nonu linebreak as well as his handling error via Aaron Smith slicing through, Jane’s concentration lapse from an SBW offload in the second half, and Gear’s somehow lazy effort to dive for the corner (watch any NRL winger’s acrobatic skills to execute such a manoeuvre and you get the point), were prime examples of what could’ve been.
A full-house awaits another classic encounter of these powerhouses, and the All Blacks will want to maintain their proud record at the daunting ‘Garden of Eden’.
Damien
Roar Guru
Thanks for the correcting my caps FOS, To be honest I think GNG is pretty good. Hoprlessly one sided but I still like it's purpose and style. I'm just jealous the Kiwi's don't do something similar. Couldn't find any of those clips you're talking about. Bottom line is everyone does it. The attitude seems to be lets see what we can get away with, and I'm pretty comfortable with it. If you get pinged, then tough..
formeropenside
Guest
Its called Green and Gold rugby. Of course it will focus on the AB's cheating. Try The Silver Fern for the clips of Wallaby cheating (which they seem to be not as good at).
Damien
Roar Guru
JNR, The clips I was talking about are just in response to the common belief that ONLY the AB's cheat. There is a website called green and gold rugby that just posts clips of infringements of other rugby nations with the AB's getting the spotlight. No clips on the Wallabies strangely enough. I'm not sour towards the game at all. I love that there are so many battles within battles on the field because the game is multi dimensional. The moral of the story I am trying to get accross is that everyone does it, not just the AB's. On the Nonu block. Nonu changed his line to block Horne. If Nonu kept his line Horne would have gotten a better shot on DC. Changing your line to block a defender is a penalty. I'm not trying to bag the AB's I'm just stating a rule thats all. Nonu got away with it, good on him. BTW I support the AB's..
jnr
Guest
yea damien but watch it in normal speed and u miss it thats how genius it was even the refs missed it why show the bad bits show the good parts of the game the parts we all go to watch u know daggs try,janes try he' ll even that warrior sharpies try sum of the hits even why u so sour towards the game i love bro if u know rugby and u probably do i dont know but this is all part and parcel of the game why did nt horne react quicker he would of had that white 7 starin at him who knows and nonu block go watch couple of last yr super games youll see a few trys scored like that especially the chiefs with cruden runnin through i wouldnt say blockin id say good line runnin it seems to always allow him to get on outside of his man and draws them in so when the ball gone behind they almost on top of him so if horne was a good defender he would of read it was not goin to nonu but at least he still took his man
IvanN
Roar Guru
mccaw should play gridiron because he blocks well
IvanN
Roar Guru
Agreed. there was no spectacle here, average game. Poor performance by the Wallabies, lucky not to have been slaughtered.
IvanN
Roar Guru
Whilst id agree Mccaw has been at hte top of his game for many years. Pocock is a good player but not there yet, You should note that Heinrich Brussow has outplayed McCaw everytime they have met, he has never lost to NZ and has been MOM in every game against them (i speak under correction but if memory serves). But even Brussow would have needed to apply that level for many years to be considered in teh same league. McCaw is a great player, more importantly a good leader.
rl
Guest
my last post prior to 3.21pm being my post at 11.40am below Mania's where I said "Kev had a good game'? And that is "to the man" because of.....?
Damien
Roar Guru
It was illegal Tui. McCaw changed his line last minute. The brilliance in it was that McCaw saw the line that Dagg would run and created the gap for him. He actually worked hard for that block. When Dagg caught the ball McCaw was about 2 - 3 metres behind and to the right of Horne. McCaw sees the 'gap' then runs quickly parallel with Horne and steps to his right last miunte and impedes Horne with his back. I've got the whole game on my computer and can isolate all those incidences. Been going over most of the good ones. Thinking of posting an infringement clip on YouTube from both sides for this game. It's pretty easy to do. Pocock blocking Read for Samo's mini break. McCaw blocking Horne for Dagg's break. Faingaa taking out Carter during an SBW offload to stop an overlap. Nonu blocking Horne in the lead up to Jane's try. If anyone can add anymore incidences I'll look it up. Bottom line is BOTH teams do it..
Tui
Guest
McCaw is a great player, one of the best of all times, if not the best. However he does cheat … an example being his block on Horne which allowed Dagg free passage, or as you put it “Dagg’s majestic run”. Wrong. There was nothing illegal at all with what McCaw did here. Its all about positioning with his back facing Horne and running a line without changing it last minute to block the opposing player. Have another look if you get chance its absolute genius.
liam
Guest
impossible to disagree
Patches
Guest
The All Blacks could have stepped into second gear if needed but why should they burn themselves out when it was not necessary
Patches
Guest
I agree yawn yawn I wonder if Richie was playing for the Wallabies would they call him a cheat. He plays the game hard, knows the laws, is a great great leader and a true lover of New Zealand and I just love him go go Richie
stillmatic1
Guest
so why only talk about mccaw, harry? couldnt you have just as easily brought up how often pocock cheats? must be hard watching all this competitive sport and men trying to get any advantage they can without getting pinged. damn it damn it damn it. fully agree with you by the way, do the same sneaky stuff myself every friday arvo, just like every single player involved. naughty boys i know.
stillmatic1
Guest
key words are: so far. hey rl? but then again you seem to have forgotten your last post below mania's. nothing ad hominem about it all.
Sidney Flat
Guest
Your interpretation of Dingo Speak is obviously different from mine. here I was thinking that he was just saying that Pocock was a one trick pony. Thats probably why the Wallabys are playing like cr*p, theres 15 different versions of the game plan running around the park...
2BB (AKA 2 Bob Billy)
Guest
Author said "Nevertheless, the players of both nations deserved the accolades for producing another great atmosphere and turning the game into an interesting battle as it went down to the wire – which is exactly what happened at ANZ Stadium">>> Mate are you on drugs??? The game was torture to watch. The atmosphere was rubbish (hence the mexican wave by fans to entertain themselves) AND the battle wasn't that interesting. It had more stops and starts than a Bangkok taxi. Get real
winston
Guest
you know they've NEVER beat the ABs right
rl
Guest
those words you cite did actually come out of Dingo's mouth, but you are simply interpreting them as they are. You really must take the inference that what he was really saying is that Pocock IS the best no 7 in the world (and in fact does everything better than Richie - better in the kitchen, in the bedroom, and man oh man can he wash the car better).
rl
Guest
so far all I've managed to post today is how the ABs weren't at their best, but at time were ferocious with their intent, how utterly crap Beale was and possibly shouldn't have been selected in the first place, and how Pocock will likely never be the rounded player that McCaw is. Disagree away.