In front of a parochial Kiwi crowd the All Blacks mercilessly punished the Wallabies in a show of just how far this team still has to go.
At the start of the match Richie McCaw’s name announcement was greeted with the loudest cheer of either side.
From there the crowd just got more and more behind a strong performance by the visitors who cashed in fully on the Wallabies many mistakes while making very few of their own.
The All Blacks performance was very ominous because of its team-wide effort. There were standouts (Richie McCaw, Keiran Read, Steven Luatua, Aaron Cruden and Ben Smith) but for the most part they weren’t head and shoulders above the rest.
The game was characterised by their ability to read and react as a unit, which will be the most pleasing part of the victory for the staff and leadership.
This is both a comforting sign for All Black fans, but one which points to further improvement.
The All Blacks didn’t hold the ball spectacularly well and in fact lost the possession stat 40/60%. And there wasn’t a whole lot of structured attacking play to unlock the Wallabies.
Now, the Wallabies didn’t present a strong enough line to force that sort of play but the All Blacks could still improve dramatically in their set play execution and bringing runners like Julian Savea (who was quiet) and Israel Dagg into the general playing pattern.
For Australia, it was a case of playing well without taking their own chances while offering too many to a team of the All Blacks quality.
The Wallabies pack wasn’t completely monstered but was certainly harassed and out-worked by the All Blacks. In that part of the game only Michael Hooper deserved to be in the conversation along with the best on the night.
In what might be a sign of his suitability as a Test number eight, Ben Mowen wasn’t able to create the same amount of havoc as he did against the Lions without another bigger body absorbing some of the physical pounding. Hugh McMeniman didn’t do that on this occasion like Wycliff Palu did for the back-row trio during that series.
Put simply, Hooper may have gone a long way to equal McCaw’s impact on the match, but McMeniman and Mowen didn’t stand up well enough to the heft and athleticism of Luatua and Read.
One area of team playing pattern that was starkly different between the two sides was in transition. By that I mean the moments just after possession changes, just after a kick is made or a run back is executed.
During those moments a team must communicate quickly and have a pre-established pattern in mind.
In this match, the All Blacks were quick to pounce on turnovers and convert them to attack with accuracy. On the other hand the Wallabies were slow to react and set their defensive line or contest the crucial first ruck when the attack may not be organised yet.
That went both ways to a degree; the All Blacks corrected their errors quickly and poured pressure onto the Wallabies whenever the game opened a fraction.
It’s especially notable that Genia’s try came from a lineout throw mistake by the All Blacks that set him away. The All Blacks team awareness was so good it took a 75m sprint for them to give away their first pie.
As a side note on Will Genia, I can’t understand why he was on the field for so long once the Wallabies were down by more than 20. Nic White needs time at this level and managing Genia’s workload should be smarter than that.
On the night, I came away thinking there were horrible problems with the backs. Having thought about it more I think there are teething problems, not wholesale incompetence.
Jesse Mogg wasn’t able to any of the skills you’d like in a Test quality full back. Two, in particular, were lacking and must be present if your full back is going to have a good Test career: composure and defence.
His game started by defusing a kick nicely, but he threw a very hair-brained offload in contact that wasn’t called for. Stephen Moore dropped it and that was the error you can trace the All Blacks first try back to.
From then Mogg just wasn’t able to settle and looked lost on the field for the majority of the match. His defence wasn’t great either, culminating with his horrible effort on Conrad Smith’s try that was bad enough to be his last action in the match.
James O’Connor’s defence wasn’t good as a wing. He rushed off his man in the first couple of minutes to let (my rugby-crush) Ben Smith in for the first of his hat trick. If you’re an international wing you can’t leave your man.
Even more than that, if you don’t trust Adam Ashley Cooper to make his one-on-one tackle, you haven’t been watching rugby for the last eight years.
Matt Toomua was fairly pedestrian compared to what many hoped for. He reminded me like Bernard Foley early in the Waratahs season this year; passing to the next man without properly selecting the best option, stabbing kicks through instead of purposefully aiming for open space or distance and unable to create much space for runners unless he ran himself.
The silver lining there is Foley has grown into his role after a number of games at that level. The hope will be, given Toomua’s competence at the lower level already, he should be able to improve at this level given time.
The simplest way to improve the backs for the rest of this competition may be to slot Quade Cooper in at full back.
One, change instead of many positional realignments, you’re not losing much on defence compared to Mogg’s output this week and you gain some creative vision in the attacking spaces.
So what have we learned from this outing?
Once again, we remember the age-old truth that one of the All Blacks greatest attacking strengths is the opposition’s mistakes. No team in the world makes you pay to thoroughly for making an error.
It’s apparent that the Wallabies absolutely must decide to make a nuisance of themselves in the rucks more next week. It wasn’t just the physicality they lacked this time, it was the way the All Blacks were more persistent in competing for the ball there.
We need to play the All Blacks in Brisbane far more than Sydney if a true home crowd environment is ever to be achieved.
Finally, we saw glimpses of the way this Wallabies team can attack and compete but also just how far they have to go if they aspire to being the best in the world again.
Shop
Guest
RK The try that was scored after it came out the same tunnel astounded me. I guess it has been so long since a ball has exited the scrum without going through any feet that the ref (in this case touchy) has never had to rule on it. Add insult to injury it cam off Lautau's forearm so should have been a knock on. I wonder what would have happened if it was given to the TMO?
Silver_Sovereign
Guest
Mogg looked out of his depth, Toomua ran sideways and never took the line on. Cooper off the bench looks like the best way to use his skills. Lelifano looked dangerous at times, Ashley cooper never passes, I feel sorry for Israel. O'Connor had some solid touches. Kuridrani who I had never seen play before looked dangerous as well. Maybe a starting spot for him in the future Genia, Toomua, Israel, Lelifiano, Kuridrani, O'Connor would be my backline
Rugby Tragic
Guest
Except Geoff, it was Christian Lealiifano who had his kicked charged down.
stu b
Guest
attitude,attitude,attitude,the allblacks will die for each other and the silver fern,look after their team mates and rookie players help and encourage to the max.one very very sad example of the wallaby attitude when the 10 was being subbed the replacement trotted on the field giving the ugly thumb point to the sheds,f off I'm here now,well now what more can you say about attitude to make a team of losers.
Hambone
Guest
The information age, everyone wants results in a split second.. Reality is one must build over time to create anything worthwhile.. Referencing that doco, great watch by the way even as an avid wallaby supporter, shows the blood sweat and hardship needed to reach that level.. Gives the boys and link some breathing space, 2 weeks and the media and half of oz are sharpening their knives, unbelievable. Elisha was spot on, there are glimmers and best thing about aussies, never roll over, it's in our spirit.. Side note, I think we would have all been pleasantly Suprised with Scotty H's form right through this TV.. The bloke was on rampant fire all year..
WQ
Guest
X 2
Ra
Guest
If McKenzie is to be the sort of coach he wants to be known for he would embrace those three for the great talents they are, set firm boundaries, give them the freedom to express themselves within those roped off areas and make the consequences for breach of boundaries very heavy and very transparent. If Aussie cricket had sacked the older Warne for his antics, the rest of the world would sighed together, and Aussie would have lost heaps of test matches. If anything, those three stupid, dumb, childish at times amigos are still world class rugby players - no doubt there
Ra
Guest
To be fair to Mogg he was put off his stride when Smith dummied to his left. Mogg fell for it and was too late to correct himself. He will learn to eye the man not the ball, then take the man first and hope he disrupts any pass, second. He will learn a great deal from that. I think he's too good a talent to be brushed off the way some Roarers are saying - a te wa - his time will come - just give him time and opportunity, same for Toomua.
Charlie Drayton
Roar Guru
I don't think we will come good until the World Cup in 2015.
Wal the Hooker
Guest
Fair call re great people Sheek, totally agree with you. With the ABs you get that sense of calmness and humility about them and the team always comes first feeling. That comes from good leaders and good people imo. Go to allblacks.com and watch the after match video from Sat night's test. Not a beer in site, no yahooing just a relaxed atmosphere, with McCaw smiling like a kid in candy shop. They just love playing for each other that black jersey and all that it means for their country. It just shines through in that tape for mine. The Eales era I dare say had that same thing going on
WEST
Roar Guru
I like the Cooper idea, send a memo to the missing link. And going by stats when comparing teams like the AB is almost irrelevant. They only need the ball a few moments to score. Same as chiefs stats, not real impressive possession and territory but the highest try scorers. you can hammer away, run around in circles all you want, pick n go, but... Basically calculate how long a man can run the length of the field, not very long. .... .. its all we need.
nowared
Guest
Elisha, just wanted to say how good your articles are - they are right on the money. You really need to educate Spiro and Lord on the finer points of the game so that they do no write so much rubbish!
ohtani's jacket
Guest
Genia's try was a great bit of skill from Hooper and Genia, don't get me wrong, but it was a try from nothing. The All Blacks were on another one of their raids and blew the line out. I dunno. I don't mean to rubbish the Wallabies but I didn't really think there was five points between them at half time. We'd already scored three tries at that point.
Sandgroper
Guest
Thanks for another good article Elisha. I think Zackaz is spot on. We have a forward pack that seems to be missing a leader. It has no mongrel and without the forwards putting in the hard yards the best back line available struggles. This week's game in Wellington will be interesting to see. The forward combinations must start to work. When I think of the great Wallaby sides they all had not only creative and well drilled backs but creative and well drilled forwards. Among those forwards were some blokes with serious mongrel; and Ewen was one of them. Can he instill it to others?
Mike
Guest
"McKenzie can start forging a new team & culture by getting rid of the dickheads – O’Connor, Cooper & Beale!" Sheek, so long as McKenzie doesn't give your ideas more than a second's thought, I will be happy. Dickheads are found in many places; sometimes those throwing that accusation loudest should think carefully about whether they are actually describing themselves. I am glad to see that McKenzie has wasted very little time on disciplinary issues, especially about things that only old women would be concerned about, and got on with the job. Discipline is a subtle and difficult task - those who adopt simplistic attitudes and solutions should not be permitted anywhere near a leadership role.
Kebab
Guest
But horwills a Qlder they always play well.
Mike
Guest
Hi Tah Man, I think the reason people want to see Higginbotham given a go is because this season in Super rugby he seemed to lift way beyond what he had done before, in terms of workrate and aggression. You are right that we shouldn't *assume* that will translate to the test arena. But we definitely want him to get fit so he can be given a go - if he can show the same lift in form at test level, that will be a major gain for the Wallabies. We already know he can perform adequately in tests; we now want to see if he can make that step up.
moaman
Guest
Retallick wasn't in the run-on side---Romano was.
moaman
Guest
Fully agree Geoff and yet Toomua-who receives sub-standard service- takes the rap.
Tah Man
Guest
Others commenting that we are missing Palu and Higgers. Can anyonetell me when Higgers has dominated aginst the ABs? In fact some of his performances have been woeful. It would have been great to see if he could have bought his SR form to a test match but as we saw on Saturday Test level is way above SR. Palu has been great in a few matches agaist the ABs but not in recent memory.Some of the new guys will need time and us as fans need to be patient. After all we have waited 10 yeras so another 2 shouldn't be an issue!!