New Zealand have taken the Bledisloe Cup home for the 14th consecutive year, sealing the series with a strong 29-9 win over the Wallabies in Wellington.
More of the wash-up from Bledisloe 2:
» LORD: Sack Cheika? No way
» Seven talking points
» What changes should the Wallabies make?
» DIY Player Ratings
» WATCH: Highlights from the match
Australia put in a hard fought effort, bouncing back strongly from their disappointment at home the previous week, but it wasn’t enough to get past the clinical All Blacks who continue to extend their insane record at home.
A first half brace to Israel Dagg, after being moved out to the wing, put the Wallabies on the back foot early, but the right foot of Bernard Foley and a monster penalty goal from debutant Reece Hodge, on his own side of halfway mind you, kept the visitors in the contest, taking a six-point deficit into the break.
The second half was a pressure cooker for the Australians, who nearly spent the entire second 40 inside their own half in defence.
Two more tries for the All Blacks represented Australia will a massive uphill battle to stay in the contest.
Nearly the final 20 minutes went scoreless as Australia could do nothing but absorb the pressure on their own line and keep the scoreline respectable.
New Zealand kept Australia to just 39 per cent possession for the whole game, and towards the end, held an incredible 79 per cent territory for the second half, just not letting the Wallabies breathe.
The line out continued to haunt Australia, as it did in the first game, winning just eight line out’s compared to New Zealand’s 20.
Missed tackles was another part of the game they came out on the wrong end of, backing up their 40 from the first test, with just 27 this time, but compared to the All Blacks six, it’s still far too much to beat the best team in the world.
Their defensive pressure and fight on their own line was a big improvement for the Wallabies this week, but their execution with ball in hand an inability to hold the All Blacks rolling offence down hurt them in the end.
New Zealand hold onto the Bledisloe Cup for yet another year, and they’ve put themselves in prime position to take out the Rugby Championship in the early goings.
Australia are now dead last in the Championship with zero points and have an ugly points difference, while New Zealand fly six points clear of South Africa with two bonus point wins from two games.
Ozrugbynut
Guest
Mods. no name calling. no swearing Pls respect other people in the forum WARNING
Zack
Roar Rookie
Spot on. The poms scored 9 tries, Wallabies scored 9 tries but lost the 3 Tests, not convincing at all. Wallabies were a tad unlucky with some decision-making by the captain and referees, otherwise they could just easily have won the series. The Poms are not as good as they think they are. EddieTheMouth keeps using experienced but less skilful players to play a game style which suits them. He'll play the same style in the Autumn Internationals by which time the Wallabies will have improved. I'm picking the Wallabies to beat the Poms in November.
Ozrugbynut
Guest
Dirty or just niggly, there's a difference.
Ozrugbynut
Guest
Moaman, your post smacks of false modesty and is obviously designed to get up some noses (and I know you post regularly). Wallabies were shite but expect more niggle in future, you're not above it and it does work to put NZ off their game. I wish more sides would bring it on because you are a protected species.
Ozrugbynut
Guest
Part of the history of 14 years without the bled. And he was on channel 10 for a family audience.
Ozrugbynut
Guest
Don't care who started it. About time we saw the guys get a bit of license. Niggle is fine, dirty is not. NZ niggle has been top notch for a long time, we just keep getting pinged. our niggle isn't smart enough.
Ozrugbynut
Guest
Stick it up your jumper and take your condescending comments elsewhere. If you think that Chieka has picked a team that deserves a full clean out bar 15 then you have no idea about the state of oz rugby. There is no more talent and experience chum. There is little money, but there is a hell of a lot of bickering and BS between the state unions. Centralise the Fkn system now and get rid of nswru and qldru etc - they are antiquated overheads. If anything, just play players in their natural positions, and select on form, agggression and attitude,
Ozrugbynut
Guest
Mate, we're just saying it wasn't a bad one, given we are conditioned to him having shockers in NZ. And as for field position I felt we deserved more time than we got partly due to Poite and partly due to some cynical play on your behalf in defence but don't set off on me because I'm not listening. Na have the dark arts of fringe play perfected, you can't argue with that. We are too Naive. I hope this is what Cheika fixes this and we defend our side of the ruck with a bit more purpose.
Ozrugbynut
Guest
Cooper was fine. Forwards are the issue but the niggle was better.
Ozrugbynut
Guest
Dirty no, niggle yes. Don't call the kettle bleck.
Maurice
Guest
Can you please tell me who won the man of the match in the game on the 27th Aug thank you
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Cap is a flog Muz. But in this case he's not saying on whether he thinks the infringement should warrant a card. He's merely commenting on what the laws say.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Much like Cricket, Rugby League, AFL, etc?
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
No because you ignore the quality players produced that cannot be retained in Australia.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
And Link didn't get to play Fiji, Uruguay and USA. He coached 2 full rugby championships in less than 2 seasons.
RobC
Roar Guru
Mike I believe Check chooses Hoops for two reason. Firstly its his speed across the paddock, in particular defence to pick out danger attackers. Esp as cover for slower forwards and less impactful back defenders. This is less relevant now because (good) attackers are able to move the pill faster than a rush defender. The second and more important reason, he is a key part of Checks RWC2015 leadership team: Squeak, Hoops, Poey, Phipps, Foley, Izzy. They are being found out in the new rules, where flooding rucks are no longer accepted and a rushing blanket defence is the norm. Now the norm is ruck efficiency, cycle speed and a diverse attack window facilitated by forwards drawing defensive numbers in motion. Just like the Reds of EMs era.
Muz
Guest
Sanzar fo
RobC
Roar Guru
good one Mike. Pls ignore my generalisation about Aus Rugby community. Its inaccurate: - It is mainly directed at the ARU and folks in elite circles. - There was another one today by Brian Smith at GAGR. - The pervasiveness of the denial and/or ignorance at that level is amazing. - Its not just coaches, its also the editors. - Too much talk about backs. This may include our good friend Paddy even! :O I agree DHP is wrongly positioned. And I agree Hodge will be a great player. But its not just them, Others to look at include Kallaway Magnay Naivalu Morahan. Even Godwin. The best Aussie ten at home until he was injured is Jono Lance. Had a cracker again yesterday. Thats not counting probably the best Aussie outside backs, JOC and KB. This year Samu was the best performing centre in SR. But used badly, just like the rest of the backs. imo, now that the scrum is generally settled. The priority should be the lineout, attacking rucks then the skills of the pack. Defence, yes but less so: - We will let always in tries esp against the ABs. - 29 is not bad, considering the weight of possession and territory against the WBs - Defensive alignment will improve. - The problem is the lack of attacking prowess and controlling the game's tempo If you have time to watch the Pumas v Boks. It shows clearly that anyone can pickup the game of the Lions and Kiwis. Check and Co, needs to get off the RWC 2015 formula and move forward. Its not hard, as minnow teams have proved.
Mike the Oz
Guest
Rob Watched the game for the third time. I will admit Kerevi wasnt as bad as I thought, i guess im just so agro about how our backs a playing and was calling for him to be in the team. I wanted more from him and felt the AB got on his outside too many times. I picked him in my 'team' and he just wasnt the relevation I wanted. I had quite a laugh re reading David Lord. I think my guru dig and your David Lord dig puts us at 1-1. Cant stand the lad. But i just feel DHP has potential but not as a winger. By the time he is dropped I bet he hasnt played a minute at fullback. For me its a square peg in a round hole. He doesnt fit. Hodge is not the be all and end all but watching it three times I felt he had much more spark than anyone else in the backline. I cant back this up with stats. I can only say I felt he was/or was always trying to be in the right place. He seemed to me to inject energy. Agree the old 'forwards win matches, backs deside how much'. Pooper is done, but in fairness it went so well at the RWC i was shocked when it was of little consequence to the poms. Cant see anything outside stubboness making Cheika pick Hooper. Massive problems in the pack, and yes talking about backs is a bit like shuffling deck chairs on the titanic. But id said my piece on the pack previously. Just so you know, my issue is really with the poor retention of age team Australians by the ARU. Until the better players arent allowed to leave for the NRL this will be our lot in life.
Geoff
Guest
No one asked for him to be cited. None of the Wallaby camp refered it so clearly it wasn't an eye gouge, no way a player has that done to them and lets it go