The gap between New Zealand and Australia was brutally exposed at Eden Park as the All Blacks registered a dominant 51-20 victory to retain the Bledisloe Cup for the twelfth consecutive year.
The game was effectively over at halftime, with the home team 23-6 ahead. The Kiwis then went out to a 44-6 lead with 22 minutes left.
The Wallabies ran in two late tries but the All Blacks responded in the final seconds to further ram home their complete superiority.
It was a bleak night for Australia as the Eden Park hoodoo continued.
Last weekend the two teams drew in a below-par performance from both, the All Blacks at about 60 per cent and the Wallabies at about 70 per cent.
Sydney was the Aussies’ big chance and they didn’t take it.
They had no chance tonight. The All Blacks rarely, ever, put in two bad displays in a row and they were pumped for a big match.
The Kiwis were simply magnificent. Strong at the breakdown, sublime in attack, menacing in defence with clinical kicking, an efficient lineout and super scrummaging. The Wallabies were blown off the park. Even when facing 14 men, they couldn’t compete.
The All Blacks were up around the 95 per cent mark and Australia needed to be at 100 per cent or more, playing out of their skins, to beat such a talented side.
Where to now in the Rugby Championship for Australia? It’s hard to say. South Africa and Argentina are clearly not as talented or as damaging as the world’s number one team, but the Wallabies need to pick themselves off the floor, and fast.
They were behind the ball physically, and they rarely got over the advantage line or broke the All Blacks’ line.
Both the Boks and the Pumas have big forward packs and the Aussies need to stand up. The Wallabies breakdown work was poor and needs to improve greatly. Their scrum wobbled and Nic White struggled.
Nick Phipps and Bernard Foley may need to start, although with Scott Higginbotham and the likes of Kane Douglas or Will Skelton. We need greater mongrel, some more toughness up front.
The Wallabies were bullied by the All Blacks, monstered in the tackle and the Australians couldn’t handle their speed out wide and on the edges.
It was a wake-up call.
Simple ball-handling errors again cruelled the men in gold. If you can’t hold the ball, you won’t win matches against top teams. It’s pretty basic.
Michael Lynagh said after the match that the Wallabies weren’t good enough, and that hits the nail on the head.
Out-thought and out-played by a better opponent. All credit and respect to the All Blacks.
Bye bye Bledisloe for another year.
Follow John Davidson on Twitter @johnnyddavidson
Ball'n'all
Guest
It is hardly a representative sample of the views of the whole population, unless you consider people who gamble to be the only ones who opinions matter.
Ball'n'all
Guest
At least he is prepared to admit it. Most posts on here seem to suggest that it was because the right players weren't selected. Like somehow a winning Wallaby team was on the sidelines and 'if only' EM had picked them.
Ball'n'all
Guest
The AB's like any team, are susceptible to losing a game, even though it hasn't happened very often recently. The real issue is not teams beating NZ, it is teams being consistently competitive over a period of time that looks out of reach currently. This could turn around at any time, of course. But surely the top teams should be aiming to win 4-6 out of every 10 games rather than sweating on the odd victory? The Boks are the only ones with a historical record that approaches that and I do look forward to those games every year because the likelihood of a loss is that much higher than other opponents.
Nooni789
Guest
Wow- what a difference one game makes. Last week we were subjected to all this commentary about how, "the Wallabies are closing the gap", "this is going to be the one". Now there's just a whole lot of humble pie. This was only 3 days ago.
Mike
Guest
"We saw in the Lions series with mugs like JOC laughing straight after the final whistle, and we ALL saw and heard how much this upset guys like Michael Lynagh." Oh please GROW UP. O'Connor never fails to put in 100% on the field. He was entitled to have a laugh with the other side after the game, many players do it, and the Lions did too - no-one questions their dedication. The problem is you - if Wallaby fans have so little understanding of what true dedication is, then its no wonder our players don't have it.
Mike
Guest
He's no more soft than any of the others, or the available replacements.
Kavvy
Guest
Yeah they're playing NRL. HOpefully the ARU can poach a couple
Kent
Guest
Actually it is. The odds are based on the number of $ on each team. The TAB has no interest in gambling its money which is why we get such pitiful odds in NZ. The TAB will start off with a favorite and shift its odds as to where the money goes. That's why the Warriors can lose to the bottom ranked team one week, then play the top ranked team the next and still pay less than 2-1.
Kent
Guest
"New Zealand better bring their A game, because we will be" - Ewen Mckenzie on eve before the test. Probably should have asked us to bring our C game.
Kent
Guest
Good stuff Dan Fan. The Ockers need to remember the last time we put 50 on them. The next time we played, they knocked us out of the world cup. I am a realist and can honestly see Ozzy winning in Brisbane after the AB's have traveled around the entire world. As well as England after we've been 1 and a half times around the world. Those and possibly Joburg after heading their from Argentina. That said, the AB's are going through a seriously arduous test schedule this year which will hopefully prepare them for the rigors of a world cup next year. I won't be stressing about those losses. They will be big wins if we manage them. I could be wrong. All Blacks, unbeaten in the RC since 2012.
kesmcc
Roar Pro
after watching both games of the RC last night and this morning i think it's no longer a question of how big the gap is between the wallabies and the all blacks but more like how will the wallabies fare against the pumas and the boks. i think the pumas will crack a win this year. they will clearly have the dominant pack against the wallabies and the way they're backs played this morning against the boks was brilliant. very unlucky to loose that one. they dominated the bigger bok pack in the scum and at the breakdown were very competitive as well. dont think the wallabies will be able to stand up to them and they're backs have a great kicking game, especially hernandez. absolutely outstanding. going to be a great few games coming up
katzilla
Roar Guru
Thanks for replying. Yeah I was curious about that mainly. I think you could probably argue your way into a scrum with a ref that wasnt quite sure.
katzilla
Roar Guru
Cheers Andy.
atlas
Guest
as football/soccer continues to gain ground in NZ - has marginally more registered players, and now approaching 500 clubs nationwide (rugby has 520); one of NZRU's 4 main goals is to make rugby the sport of choice (it isn't now) in the Auckland region where over a third of NZ's population lives. Not quite the rugby dominance people would like to believe.
PiratesRugby
Guest
Do you have anyone in mind?
Big Show
Guest
The Wallabies need to get rid of the soft, powder puff forward pack that they currently have e.g. Scott Fardy utterly pathetic and soft.
Jerry
Guest
Stafford was on Sky saying the Wallabies had shortened from something like 4.25 to 3.75 so there were obviously a decent number of people who thought they were a decent chance.
Jerry
Guest
Andy is right - as there was a ruck after the ball was taken back into the 22 the Wallabies were able to kick it out on the full and gain ground. I'm not actually sure what the result would be if a player kicks from his in-goal on a carried back situation. 5m attacking lineout , I would assume.
AndyS
Guest
If they set up a ruck, there was a contest for the ball inside the 22 and it was fine.
AussieinNZ
Guest
ABs game is attack deep and wide. Wallabies were not up to this with slow ruck ball laboured passing through the midfield and cart horses for wingers. Get some more aggressive forwards fluent midfield and proper wingers and we might have a chance