The Wallabies have stopped the All Blacks claiming a world record 18th win a row, but were below par in their 12-12 Bledisloe Cup draw.
At a rainy ANZ Stadium the Australians were close to pulling off a historic win but could not break through the concerted Kiwi wall, despite the men in black being down to 14 players on two separate occasions.
It was a tense final 11 minutes when Kurtley Beale tied the scores up with a vital penalty.
With two minutes left the Wallabies piled on phase after phase, but the All Blacks defence held, and a mistake when an Australian player left his feet meant a famous victory got away from them.
A draw was probably a deserved result. The Wallabies were mistake ridden, poor from kick-offs and often error-prone at the lineout, while the All Blacks were not much better.
It was a rare poor performance from New Zealand who, although ferocious in defence, were mostly pedestrian in attack and their ball-handling was a tad sloppy.
Both teams were largely off their games and struggled to handle the drizzly conditions.
The Wallabies had the better of the refereeing, adding further frustration that they won’t get a better chance to beat their trans-Tasman rivals any time soon.
Without Dan Carter and Conrad Smith the All Blacks were a little flat but they started much stronger than their opponents. They went into halftime 9-3 ahead after a drab first 40 minutes.
The Wallabies kept making schoolboy errors – Israel Folau taking the ball out in the 2nd minute, an offside from a kick-off on 4 minutes, Rob Horne losing it forward on 18 minutes, holding on in the 26th and 28th minutes, a ball carried back into the 22 for a kick into touch on 34 minutes – and they added up.
The All Blacks were making some mistakes of their own though – Dan Coles dropping the ball with a try beckoning on five minutes, Aaron Cruden missing a penalty on 14 minutes, a knock-on in the 24th minute and a Ma’a Nonu knock-on in the 31st minute.
Rarely does any team play mistake-free rugby, but this wasn’t pretty from either side, and to beat this All Blacks outfit you need to play near-perfect football.
The Wallabies had some promising spells and enterprising play, flashes of the attacking flair the Tahs so brilliantly demonstrated in Super Rugby, but the Kiwi line would not be broken. Several times they man-handled the boys in gold into touch or forced turnovers.
For Australia Nathan Charles was impressive in just his third Test, while skipper Michael Hooper was again a standout, the most likely to break tackles with the ball in handle. Will Skelton had a big impact off the bench and is pressing hard for a starting spot.
The Wallabies got most of the 50-50 calls and with two All Blacks binned, knew they should have done better. Both of the yellow cards were justifiable, but a touch on the harsh side, as I’ve seen those infractions not given. Expect Steve Hansen to take aim heavily at ref Jacob Peyper this week.
The next time they meet, in the graveyard for Australian rugby that is Auckland, the Wallabies won’t be so lucky.
While they can take some heart from the fact that they kept the Kiwis try-less, and had them on the back foot for large spells of the match, they need to improve.
Follow John Davidson on Twitter at @johnnyddavidson
Mike
Guest
That's fair, since we also experience that there are some AB fans who know a lot about rugby. Then, there are the groupies like yourself... ;)
Mike
Guest
Its not a critique TT - critiques are for reasoned arguments. Assertions like "Result - Draw" is not even an argument, let alone a reasoned one.
Mike
Guest
ChrisT, I don't think you've supported your argument at all. Firstly, there is plenty to blame on the conditions. Many of the handling errors could not have been due to anything but the conditions. Secondly, errors in play are also a factor of opposition pressure. One of the reasons there were so many by both sides was because they were maintaining good pressure on each other. Usually with the All Blacks its more one-sided.
Yogi
Guest
the biggest of the many ref errors (both ways) in the match was not giving the aussies advantage when they were attacking towards the end of the game. I thought the ABs gave away a couple of penalties during the advantage period, but advantage was called over before any territorial or tactical advantage was gained. Maasive error from peyper as it would have been an easy 3 points with only a couple of minutes to go. And yet reading this post you would swear the kiwis were robbed!
Bakkies
Guest
It's harder to defend in Rugby as you don't know when the kick will come so the winger doesn't have protection. Knocking dead is a 5 metre rather than a drop out. Hunt did that in one of his earlier games for Biarritz. Conceded a 5 metre through knocking it dead. Opp scoring from the 5 metre.
soapit
Guest
samsport so if the ref is happy with it and says feed and then it all obviously turns into a mess a split second later they should both pretend it hasnt happened and feed anyway? i'd prefer refs to be able to use their brains more than that. jerry, my previous comment got moderated brainlessly because i used the words bosrtordisation of the no pushng early rule but basically i said i've never checked the rules on that one. was just what i understood from someone telling me way back but could well be wrong.
soapit
Guest
plenty got slid over the sideline in tackles from miles away and plenty had to check their stepping to avoid falling over though, they just did well enough to manage to not fall over. international stadiums dont tend to get cut up significantly these days but the water is still there. not saying its the worst possible conditions but certainly more than 'slightly tricky'
AB's#1
Guest
Cracks me up these Wallabies fans. Not all of them. Just some of them. They talk it up so much it's unbelievable. Then when reality dawns and we will be more than likely keeping the bledisloe for the 12th year, they are full of critique on how terribly we played and how they gave the game to us. Geez. Must be a tough time for a wallabies supporter. 12 years has gotta hurt Hail King Richie. Thou art Holy. Thy WC come, thy will be done, in 2015 as it was in 2011.
bryan
Guest
Was Kaino injured at that point or did they select him to go off because of the front row? Because if they chose Kaino to go off, I think it was a massive mistake
bryan
Guest
carter seemed to run very tall
bryan
Guest
dagg was dropped lol
s.t.rine
Guest
Absolutely no thrust, no straight line attack & luckily NZ not much better They were better at breakdown in 1st half but Ws more energetic in second. Neither France or England need worry about NZ or Ws at this rate, and we know comes RWC the pitch conditions will be similar. S T
AndrewWA
Guest
Haven't access to ruck stats but his 5 tackles probably indicate something ESPN shows that Slipper had most carries: 14 for 8m while Folau/Hooper made the most metres - 11 carries for 33m. Next best Toomua 8 carries for 27m. Best AB was AL Smith with 4 carries for36m (SANZAR).
Zero Gain
Guest
It was a thrashing, of the huge egos of many Kiwi fans.
ChrisT
Guest
Kidding no one soapy. That surface barely cut up at all night and I didn't see a single player lose their footing. If you think a wet ball is highly unusual in rugby or indeed a bit of rain then maybe you've watched all your international rugby in Melbourne under a roof?
soapit
Guest
we've had this chat before jerry its just this time the ref agrees with me. the circumstances of the infringement sometimes is enough evidence of cynicism
Pickett
Guest
White has a better pass, but Phipps seems to have a better overall game. He seems like a bundle of energy as well - enthusiasm is contagious. Phipps to start. Foley should start - looked comfortable when he came on. Beale to Bench. Centres - stay the same Folau - FB Wingers? Horne and McCabe seem to be mirror images of each other - biggish blokes (without being behemoths), who are tough in defence and attack. 80 minute players. All heart. But....lack genuine pace. I'd keep one, but we need another winger with genuine pace. What's James Roberts of the Gold Coast Titans doing?
Man up
Guest
Doesn't take much to satisfy you then. Records will come and go (as will Bledisloes) and I'm sure the opportunity to break this record will come around again. However, being in a strong position to maintain a winning streak of Bledisloe series' victories is a pretty worthy consolation.
Subsy
Guest
Here is a stat you missed, had an extra player for a quarter of the game.... and still couldn't score.
SamSport
Guest
Rubbish. Ref saying put it in means the ref is happy with it. Attacking team has an advantage, the 9 still gets to feed it (never straight), but can't take an eternity. Phipps did. Scrums that last 10 were a joke and the Wallabies managed to get through it -- wouldn't count on that happening too often though.