Lightning does strike twice after all, with the Wallabies again denying the All Blacks a record 18th consecutive Test win in a tense 12-12 draw in the Bledisloe Cup and Rugby Championship opener in Sydney.
Two years ago, an 18-18 draw in Brisbane prevented the All Blacks matching the 18 straight wins by New Zealand from 1965-69 and South Africa’s 1997-98 outfit – and the first tryless Test in Sydney since 1979 denied the Kiwis again on Saturday night.
Wallabies five-eighth Kurtley Beale and All Blacks opposite Aaron Cruden both landed four penalty goals in wet and slippery conditions at ANZ Stadium.
South African Jaco Peyper’s pedantic and, at times, bemusing refereeing reduced the much-anticipated trans-Tasman showdown to a dour, stop-start affair in front of a 68,627 fans.
Despite ending a three-year losing run against New Zealand, the Wallabies still face rugby’s version of Mission Impossible to wrestle back the Bledisloe Cup for the first time in 12 years.
The Wallabies must win the final two Tests, including next Saturday’s at Auckland’s Eden Park, where the All Blacks haven’t lost since 1994.
The All Blacks played a quarter of Saturday’s match with only 14 players after prop Wyatt Crockett and replacement five-eighth Beauden Barrett were both sin-binned for cynical plays during the tense Rugby Championship opener.
The Wallabies, though, were unable to capitalise and were left to rue a succession of missed opportunities in the second half.
Israel Folau squandered Australia’s best try-scoring chance in the 54th minute.
Under pressure, Cruden’s attempted clearing kick from inside the New Zealand in-goal area landed straight down Folau’s throat 30 metres out from the All Blacks line.
But with a three-man overlap, the fullback’s wild pass flew over Beale’s head and it was opportunity lost.
The Wallabies had to settle for another Beale penalty goal instead, which tied the match up, but Cruden replied two minutes later to nudge the All Blacks back ahead 12-9 after an hour.
Moments later, after multiple phases on the New Zealand line, Wallabies winger Pat McCabe seemed certain to score only to be piled into touch.
A surprise selection as starting No.10, Beale had a mixed night but locked the match up at 12-12 with his fourth penalty 10 minutes from fulltime.
True to their word, the Wallabies showed their attacking intent throughout a stop-start first half.
They spread the ball from one side to the other in the opening minutes of the match before skipper Michael Hooper, pushing for a try rather than a gift three points, three times spurned shots at penalty goal in the shadows of halftime.
But even with the All Blacks a man short after Crocket’s sin-binning, the Wallabies were unable to capitalise.
Hooper finally opted for a shot at goal after the halftime siren sounded, but Beale’s kick from 15 metres to the left struck the upright, leaving the Wallabies 9-3 down at the break.
Beale made no mistake with his next shot five minutes into the second half to narrow the deficit to three points after All Blacks captain Richie McCaw was penalised – but not yellow carded – for snuffing out a Wallabies tryscoring opportunity from an offside position.
Mike
Guest
I still don't follow you. A 12-all game could have gone either way. Its inevitable that both sides in it were very beatable.
whats that
Guest
Tinfoel hat Very True
whats that
Guest
Haraasun Very true comment and I think the clock should be stopped when the ref blows his whistlle. Problem is the game would go on all day haha! Seriously though something should be done and stopping the clock everytime a scrum is reset IMO would be a good start
whats that
Guest
Handles And the Wallabies hooker going down in the scrum under pressure and near their tryline?. And the Aussie clinging onto the ball after that unlucky clash when Nonu had rights to it.? We can go on and on. Wasn't the best performance by the ref and IMO the Aussies had the rub of the green in this game. However in other games NZ has had the rub of the green and it all evens out. That was not a dominant Aussie performance at all like you try to claim. Just a difficult game in difficult conditions which neither side dominated!!
whats that
Guest
to warrenexpat If you are referring to the game I believe you are than actually there were a couple of drop goal attempts.
whats that
Guest
To BillyBob Come on mate the Aussies over the years have been just as cynical as the AB's.
Benny
Guest
AAC might have had his hand on the ball but he also didn't release the tackled player so it should have been a penalty to the ABs. Even if he had released, Savea had his hand on the ball first so at most it was a 5m scrum. No try sorry
whats that
Guest
GavinGavin and Mad Dutchman C'mon The Wallabies gave away a cynical penalty early in the game in the red zone The AB's are no angels and neither are the Wallabies. Open your eyes!!
whats that
Guest
Trenno If you watch that again you may see that an AB had his hand on it first!!! Warrenexpat. Same old AB cynical play excuse Open your eyes and you will see the Wallabies are pretty cynical themselves.
Mike
Guest
QC has to earn his place. His mixed results in the past will not do it for him by themselves.
whats that
Guest
GavinGavin The Wallabies were cynical in the early stages of the game giving away a penalty rather than risk conceding a try. All teams do it!!
Mike
Guest
"I am a sports fan, I grew up playing rugby but I honestly have shifted to watching and following NRL in recent years." Which is interesting because I am a sports fan, I grew up playing league but I honestly have shifted to watching and following rugby in recent years. True. "Whilstever the rules and refereeing decisions are mystifying and opaque, and the games remain something only ‘true fans’ can love, rugby is at risk of remaining the 4th code in Australia – and with that, comes the risk of financial difficulties." That's obviously not the reason, otherwise rugby would not be as popular as it is in so many countries. The reason rugby is so unpopular here is that most people never see a game of it, apart from the occasional test. Hence why my comment is not "part of union's issue at all", but avoiding a complete red herring.
whats that
Guest
To BillyBob Come on mate the Aussies over the years have been just as cynical as the AB's.
whats that
Guest
To piratesrugby Really? And the Wallabys never deliberately infringe? Just reading your comment here you sound like the biggest cry baby of the lot.
Benny
Guest
I did wonder if my "stats in your favour" would be misinterpreted. I mean tackles broken, offloads, rucks won, metres run, handling etc. My point is that if the WBs can play a game and look better in all the stats but still not win, it doesn't show that the ABs are beatable
whats that
Guest
Tussot time It was probably the wrong decision by Hooper but even if he had of taken the 3 points then the whole course of the remaining game would have changed and we cannot say who would have won! So you can't say it cost them the game.
whats that
Guest
to piratesrugby I'm a Kiwi and like most Kiwis I know we are only too ready to realise that we are not unbeatable and other teams do play well. Rugby would be boring otherwise. So of instead of making silly little remarks how about just concentrating on the actual rugby
kesmcc
Roar Pro
finally had another look at it this afternoon and i think it was very 50-50. could definitely see that savea didn't release straight away but also the AAC technically wasn't supporting his own body weight as he had his arms and hands resting on the ground. As for the ball on the try line, AAC had been cleaned out and went for another go, penalty. but also the ball did go back onto the line so 5m scrum. in the end i think both teams were very lucky to get away with certain things at that break down
44bottles
Roar Guru
Last origin game someone outside Australia and a couple of Pacific islands cared about?
44bottles
Roar Guru
You questioned the predictability of rugby. What you described doesn't happen in that order every test. Runs are mixed in with kicks, dropped balls, scrums, lineouts, penalties, etc. but in constantly changing orders. You do legitametly see the 5 hit ups then special play many (not every) time in most NRL games.