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Wallabies improving but McKenzie needs to learn from mistakes

Kurtley Beale needs to straighten up and fly right... With the ball in hand. (Photo: Paul Barkley/LookPro)
Roar Guru
17th August, 2014
19

In my previous article I said the All Blacks were going to produce ‘more of the same’, because they thought they would win the first Bledisloe in 2014. There was a hint of lack of respect for the Wallabies in that approach, with a serving of overconfidence on top.

Steve Hansen tried his familiar pre-match psychology lesson with his comments about Kurtley Beale’s selection at fly-half, but surprisingly this balloon deflated, and looked more like the All Blacks lacked confidence instead.

Were they actually worried that the McKenzie masterstroke might pay off?

That set the scene for a wet confrontation at ANZ Stadium in Sydney on Saturday night. It was a try-less draw, with four penalties apiece, so it doesn’t sound exciting. There was a fair bit of dropped ball, but the defence from both teams was unrelenting.

The Kiwis’ wet-weather instincts had them slipping a number of grubbers and shallow chips behind, which the Wallabies were prepared for and managed to defuse without too much trouble. The All Blacks backline assaults were well shut down, and Wallaby defence was offensive, causing gain-line pressure and a deterioration of confidence in their prospects of success out wide.

Only one turnover to the Wallabies occurred out wide, but the Wallabies defended all theirs. The All Blacks tried to go up the middle and off the fringes, but no luck there either as the Wallabies offensive defence gave them no leeway. Threats like Jerome Kaino and Aaron Smith never looked likely to create anything, though Smith nearly orchestrated a try early due to a Beale turnover from an up-an-under take.

The Wallabies were nervous at the start, and that was compounded by two aimless kicks, one each by Matt Toomua and Nic White, when ball-in-hand was essential to take it to the All Blacks early.

Fortunately, they must have been slipped the word that they would be killed if they did it again. If Dan Coles hadn’t knocked on near the Wallabies tryline, an All Blacks try was very likely, and that would have probably altered the way the match played out, with a definite edge to New Zealand.

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As the match continued, though, it became clear that the Wallabies set-piece was pretty good, the Wallabies defence was very good, and the All Blacks attack was not particularly threatening. The Ben Smith weapon was defused with punishing defence, Julian Savea didn’t really feature at all, and Ma’a Nonu’s crash ball crashed.

So, what of the Wallabies attack? How did the masterstroke go? The backline’s passing swiftness and precision looked good. Better than the All Blacks anyway. But, the All Blacks’ sliding defence had no trouble handling what was offered.

Beale was doing his cross-field crabbing runs that do not commit the defence, allowing the slide to continue, and the attack to be stopped. It works outside Bernard Foley for the Waratahs, and there was the clue. No Foley.

The Wallabies attack immediately looked more threatening when he came on, but the 70th minute was too late for him to be able to deliver the coup-de-grace. And he replaced Beale, not Toomua, so the Wallabies did not get the chance to see if the Waratahs magic could be unleashed. Perhaps Beale was injured, and Nick Phipps gave the side a lift as well. More food for thought for next week.

Beale kicked his penalty goals as well as Cruden did for the All Blacks, so that was another stalemate there.

Overall, the McKenzie masterstroke failed, and the match was not won. The Wallabies showed they have more to offer, though, and like the Waratahs in the Crusaders match, showed greater threat across the park. McKenzie got it wrong. Nevertheless, the Wallabies can take heart from the draw as they were marginally the better team.

So, what about next week? Both teams will improve, but the All Blacks will probably change a few players to try to get something happening. The result, even though the match will be played at Eden Park, looks to be in McKenzie’s hands. Will he or won’t he?

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