The All Blacks have beaten the Wallabies by a good margin, 38-13, in the opening game of the Rugby Championship and take a 1-0 lead in the Bledisloe, the result likely made worse by an ankle injury to Israel Folau.
It’s a cliche as old as sport itself but it really was a game of two halves – one the Wallabies will be encouraged by, and one that they will pay specialists to help them forget.
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That first half was both impressive and frustrating for fans as both sides put in great defensive performances but struggled to find rhythm with ball in hand.
As usual there will be discussion about how the All Blacks get the benefit of the doubt with the referees.
Early in the match Waisake Naholo could easily have been shown a yellow for a tip tackle on Israel Folau but Jaco Peyper decided not to ask the TMO and felt that a penalty was enough.
The All Blacks were out of sorts in attack in the opening 38 minutes – they struggled to create opportunities which is partly down to a surprising number of handling errors from them but mainly down to a well organised and fast defence from the Wallabies.
In the same fixture last year the Wallabies were doing realistic impressions of turnstiles as the All Blacks ran in try after try but today the Aussies were ruthless and organised.
In attack both sides struggled to find any rhythm and while each had periods where they put together long sequences of phases, neither really made much ground or punched damaging holes.
At the 38-minute mark it was 6-0 to the Wallabies and the All Blacks were starting to look a bit concerned.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
But as is said so often the 10 minutes either side of half-time is key and the men in black delivered. A try either side of the break broke Aussie hearts, and the swing between halves had begun.
The second half not only saw the Kiwis score early with a try on debut for Jack Goodhue in the 44th minute, but also saw the Wallabies defence unable to live up to the standards of the first half. They fell off tackles and were slower on the rush up.
The All Blacks took full advantage and scored two more tries soon after Goodhue’s meaning that the lead was far too big for the Wallabies to hope to chase down.
While it was always going to be hard for the Wallabies to keep up their defensive pace, the area that cost them this game was their set piece.
They conceded penalties at the scrum and their line out became a weapon for the Kiwis. Seven lost line outs on their own throw is criminal at this level and you just cannot hope to give the All Blacks so much ball and not pay for it.
As the game went on the gulf between the two sides became more evident. Whereas Bernard Foley struggled to get involved in the game and have an impact, Beauden Barrett’s control over the match just grew and grew.
Where the All Blacks were able to reduce the handling errors of the first half, the Wallabies were dropping balls and giving away possession.
When the Wallabies had the ball they looked passionate but lacked creativity. When the Kiwis had the ball they looked clinical and ruthless.
(Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
Jaco Peyper will be in a lot of people’s discussions about this game – the referee will come in for a lot of flack for how he didn’t penalise the All Blacks but in the end the Wallabies made things far too hard for themselves.
The Wallabies will talk of positives and foundations to build on but in truth there are just as many questions as ever about whether this set of players and coaching staff have what it takes to compete at the top level.
Ireland made them look average over the three match series and the All Blacks showed the gap in class in the second 40 minutes today.
The Wallabies can likely kiss goodbye to the hopes of regaining the Bledisloe this year but they must, absolutely must beat the Springboks at least at home and the Pumas home and away in this championship.
This could be beyond them though and a year out from the World Cup they could find themselves in a very tricky position.
Fans will await news of how Israel Folau recovers from an ankle injury that saw him leave the field early.
Fans will also await an explanation of why Folau was not used more at restarts and in open play – he’s the Wallabies best attacking weapon and they have to get him in the game more.
The All Blacks will be disappointed that they started so slowly and while they only conceded points during that first half they will know that they were not up to scratch.
Next week will see the return leg over in Eden Park and you have to say that the result will be similar if not worse.
Shane D
Roar Rookie
Hodge ran into Perenara. Perenara didn’t grab or tackle him. Perenara didn’t have to get out the way.
Rhys Bosley
Guest
I was being sarcastic.
Peter Kelly
Guest
The channel ten commentary team said that TMO has 13 camera angles where they only had a couple - the TMO did not seem to have any indecision nor take long to reply - TMO stated player was behind the kicker, award the try.
Peter Kelly
Guest
Paulo you may be right when ball in a ruck, it's been 20+ years since I last played. In this case Genia pulled the ball from the maul and then it looked like Read grabed it from him, I haven't rewatched the incident though was just my initial impression. I will have to have a look at rule book, it's one of those habits from halfbacks that annoys me.
Keilidh
Roar Rookie
He might have fallen for the dummy, but you can’t fault his courage, he never avoids the tackles and takes some big hits.
Jimbo
Guest
Ok we get it, you hate religion. Care to take your irrelevant anti religious speak somewhere else and talk about the rugby like the rest of us.
Paulo
Roar Rookie
I'm a Canterbury lad, so I'm not across the Auckland School landscape, but the passion you guys are showing and the importance of this competition that is happening between these schools is why the ABs maintain such a high level. We have such intense school comps, which lead into club comps, ITM, Super Rugby, and then International. This is the grassroots and the foundation that the AB success is built on. I love it.
Paulo
Roar Rookie
At the risk of being pulled into an irrelevant argument, the Folau card was for a completely different incident, so not really comparable, you will need to find a card for s tip tackle to compare. I can see both sides, he was turned past horizontal and landed with his hips above is shoulders. But, on the other hand he landed on his arms and shoulders, it did appear his momentum contributed to the movement past horizontal, and Naholo held on and did drop him but carried and controlled his impact with the ground. On the balance of this ref decided it was penalty only. He could have decided it was a YC, but would have been a very soft YC as Folau was never in any real danger. At the end of the day, arguing about this is just noise and a distraction from the greater issues for the Wallabies after the game.
Garth
Guest
I think you may be right about the players not listening, not following instruction and losing focus. That was an issue under Deans. The players even admitted (repeatedly) post-game that they had failed to implement the agreed game plan & that they had also failed to adjust for any tactical cjanges made by the opposition.
robel
Roar Pro
Just rewatched the tackle, definitely a yellow. Folau did not jump. It is also irrelevant as the tackler has a duty of care not to spear tackle. If Folau was yellow carded for the Irish test contest for the ball, then this is a most definite yellow.
Marlin
Guest
Both teams were offside all night - not hard to police behinds the last feet but the touchies don’t seem to care - linout throws not straight all night too - if the law isn’t working remove it from the game but till then the officials need to referee the laws
Paulo
Roar Rookie
"At the end of the day, as long as rugby's been around, that's what it is. You have to live with the ones you get and the ones you don't." M. Cheika 2016 (when Aust made the RWC final)
Paulo
Roar Rookie
I actually though the half back can have hands on ball, its only when he lifts it off the ground that it is back in play? maybe I am wrong, but I thought that's why all these halfbacks leave their hands on the ball. I don't like when they kick the ball back into the ruck, that annoys me.
Marlin
Guest
He’s pretty good, isn’t he? In fact they are all pretty good- we’ll done AB’s - what a team - they just soaked it all up and then blew us away in the 2nd half
Hearditallbefore
Guest
And a lot of us hate how some people’s religious convictions are on ostentatious display. If there was a god you’d reckon she’d have better things to concern herself with than some fella scoring a try. And does anyone really think she would care who won? Just pray in private and leave the rest of us alone
Hearditallbefore
Guest
And a lot of us hate how some people’s religious convictions are on ostentatious display. If there was a god you’d reckon she’d have better things to concern herself with than some fella scoring a try. And does anyone really think she would care who won? Just pray in private and leave the rest of us alone
Marlin
Guest
He did have a nice little 3step soft-shoe move going with some rhythm and groove and at least he wasn’t box kicking - 2 outa 10 for mine
Keilidh
Roar Rookie
True, they started with a huge defensive effort and were starting to look tired after 30 minutes. Is it a fitness or game plan issue?
Peter Kelly
Guest
Foley fell for a dummies from a lock, forwards now smarter than backs, it's a funny world we live in. I was always thought take the man with the ball, the cover defense will get the next player if pass is made - it's over thinking the game when you get suckered by a dummy pass - there is a reason it's called dummy pass you look like one everytime when you dont tackle.
Peter Kelly
Guest
The ball is in play as soon as half back has hands on ball. Genia reaches into maul to get ball and as he pulls back Read grabs ball, fair play move on. So many half backs these days do the same including A Smith, have hands on ball while then looking what to do with it. I thought Genua was very slow by his standards last night, hopefully its lack of game time because if its age Aus have another headache to cure.