Six years after blowing a 17-0 lead in Dunedin, the Wallabies once again failed to deny the All Blacks’ wave of pressure under the roof at Forsyth Barr Stadium in New Zealand’s deep south.
The Wallabies led 14-0 and 17-3 at half-time after a blistering start from Eddie Jones’ men, but the wheels came off right from the outset in the second half as the men in black dominated the breakdown and the scrum to go on and seal a 23-20 victory.
Without regular tight-head props Allan Alaalatoa (Achilles) and Taniela Tupou (ribs), the Wallabies’ depth was exposed as Englishman Karl Dickson rewarded the home side’s dominance and regularly pinged the visitors at the breakdown for not rolling away kick enough and at the scrum. Ultimately, that is where the Wallabies lost it.
A controversial decision to reward the All Blacks a scrum penalty following a clumsy Quade Cooper knock-on allowed Richie Mo’unga to step up and bang over the match-winning penalty. In his last Test on home soil before heading to Japan at year’s end, the classy playmaker didn’t miss.
The All Blacks pulled off a late win over the Wallabies at Forsyth Barr Stadium on August 05, 2023 in Dunedin. (Photo by Joe Allison/Getty Images)
“Obviously gutted,” said Tate McDermott, who became the Wallabies’ 86th Test captain and was given his jersey by former World Cup-winner John Eales ahead of the match.
“We’ve put ourselves in a position to win it. We were chasing our tails that whole second half.”
The defeat was a heartbreaker for the Wallabies, who were completely written off ahead of the return Bledisloe fixture following their 38-7 loss at the MCG a week earlier.
Indeed, the Wallabies were $23 outsiders earlier in the week.
At half-time, the Wallabies looked like snapping their 8,029 day drought against the All Blacks on New Zealand soil when they took a 14-point lead into half time.
But bit by bit the All Blacks showed their composure and ability to accrue points.
Richie Mo’unga celebrates after guiding his side to a dramatic come-from-behind win over the Wallabies at Forsyth Barr Stadium on August 05, 2023 in Dunedin. (Photo by Peter Meecham/Getty Images)
At the same time, the Wallabies struggled to get their hands on the ball and miss the little moments.
Carter Gordon, who was fantastic in the opening half, missed a crucial penalty midway through the half when his shot hit the posts. At the time, the Wallabies were holding onto a 17-13 lead in the 60th minute.
Samipeni Finau’s try on debut and Mo’unga’s conversion gave the home side a 20-17 lead after 65 minutes.
Cooper’s long-range penalty saw the Wallabies level up the score after 73 minutes, but it wasn’t to be as the All Blacks broke Australian hearts once more.
“Well, it was no good. It’s a bad feeling,” Jones told Stan Sport.
“We should’ve won that game. We did enough to win that game but we don’t have the capacity to keep doing the simple things well.”
Eddie Jones bemoaned his side’s inability to win the little moments against the All Blacks in the second half at Forsyth Barr Stadium on August 05, 2023 in Dunedin. (Photo by Peter Meecham/Getty Images)
Jones, who addressed the Wallabies at half-time with an intensity and knowledge of how big an opportunity they had, bemoaned his side’s inability to seize the moment.
“We obviously got in trouble in the scrum, which cost us a couple of penalties. Then our support play dropped off. So they’re all things that we’re responsible for, and that’s the disappointing thing. We played with such intent and focus in the first half. The second half, we just couldn’t continue doing it, and we do have a capacity issue of doing the simple things well,” Jones said.
Jones will pick his 33-man World Cup squad on Thursday in Darwin.
Pone Fa’amuasili, who barely played more than 20 minutes per match for the Rebels this year, was one who helped his hopes of booking a ticket to France.
“It’s remarkable what he’s done, mate, Jones said. “A guy who was playing maximum 10, 15 minutes of Super Rugby and not very well. He’s come out there in a Test match against New Zealand, played 60 minutes and acquitted himself.”
He wasn’t alone. Tom Hooper, 22, had his best match, while Fraser McReight also managed to get on the ball and show his link play too.
McDermott and Carter Gordon combined well, while the playmaker took another step forward in the Test.
Andrew Kellaway was another who shone, delivering the type of performance that should confirm him in the No.15 jersey.
Pone Fa’amausili had his best game in a Wallabies jersey despite being held up over the line at Forsyth Barr Stadium on August 05, 2023 in Dunedin. (Photo by Peter Meecham/Getty Images)
Matt Faessler, who was a late inclusion after Jordan Uelese (knee) was scratched following a training mishap, also made a strong impression after coming on early for Dave Porecki (shoulder).
The Reds rake only lost one lineout and showed the composure to suggest he belongs at international rugby.
The Wallabies raced out of the blocks to score in the third minute, as McDermott’s decision to kick for the corner from a penalty paid off as Marika Koroibete scored out wide.
Minutes later the Wallabies had their second, as Tom Hooper showed his strength out wide by bursting over the top to score after Mark Nawaqanitawase made a stunning break centre field to leave the All Blacks shellshocked. Gordon’s second straight conversion from out wide gave them a 14-0 lead after nine minutes.
The All Blacks managed to get on the board when Damian McKenzie slotted a simple penalty, before the Wallabies restored their 14-point lead when Gordon .
The Wallabies looked like they would score when McDermott darted to the blindside following a rolling maul deep inside the home side’s half. But some stunning last-ditched defence from veteran Sam Whitelock and Ardie Savea saw the All Blacks hold the nippy halfback up.
Carter Gordon offloads to Andrew Kellaway during the first-half against the All Blacks at Forsyth Barr Stadium on August 05, 2023 in Dunedin. (Photo by Peter Meecham/Getty Images)
It was a big huge play and one that turned the tide of the Test, before the All Blacks squandered a late chance to post points before half-time.
Nothing went right for the Wallabies in the second half, as the cracks at the scrum started to appear and Dickson pinged the visitors for not rolling away properly.
Winger Shaun Stevenson immediately took advantage to score and Mo’unga converted to cut the margin to 17-10.
Dominating territory, the All Blacks continued to fire several shots and the home side took another penalty to cut the deficit to four as Leicester Fainga’anuku lost the ball under the posts.
The winger wasn’t made to pay for the blunder, as Finau scored soon after to give the All Blacks the lead.
While the Wallabies managed to level up the match, Cooper’s spilt chance on the fringes summed up his side’s dreadful second half and continued his nightmare career on New Zealand soil as the All Blacks scrummed for a penalty and, ultimately, the win.
Muzzo
Roar Rookie
Why OB??? He was only belting them cause they didn’t work!! Lol ????
WEST
Roar Guru
Georgia are a surprisingly tough team. Just hope you don’t get any injuries.. that’s what can throw a spanner in the works
Realrugby
Roar Rookie
I noticed whenthe abs were taking forever, on other line outs in the game that they were given that time
Realrugby
Roar Rookie
Don't agree at all...nz didn't regai any semblance of control until they made their replacements....and guess what that's when our B replacements were made too...australia were unlucky not to be up 24-3 at HT....yes the NZ team steamrolled home in 2H with their A side on and our B side...australia have stepped up and will continue to do so....I've seen many nz a v b games and they're always tight....that first half wasn't tight....I think those in the know are starting to understand Eddie is making a big difference and he's got loads of time now to complete the task....
Realrugby
Roar Rookie
For the rest of the context we destroyed that b side....when they're A replacements came on and our B replacements came on, nz got back in the game....that's the detail missing in some analysis
Realrugby
Roar Rookie
All teams will play their A teams from quarters on...I think our B team can certainly handle Portugal and Georgia...
Realrugby
Roar Rookie
We'll nz has certainly benefitted from that in their rwc wins....great that shoe is on other foot for once..
Realrugby
Roar Rookie
Aus can play Fiji and wales and b team against Georgia and Portugal...then from quarters on it's a team all the way....
donmcdazzle
Roar Rookie
Not what I said. You said it had nothing to do with Mo'unga, I said it has something to do with it. Not everything, but something.
donmcdazzle
Roar Rookie
That's just factually incorrect. He has played numerous games without scoring. He scored 5 against Tonga in one game for example so how has he scored in every other one he played in?
donmcdazzle
Roar Rookie
He made the most line breaks and the most carrying metres. What else is he meant to do? He kicked well enough too. Most pleasingly he didn't lose patience and throw in any random grubber or chip kicks when we were working through phases (which is what Barrett defaults to sometimes). One quick throw in in the first half was probably the wrong option, and I think he dropped one offload form Stevenson but he did nothing else wrong.
donmcdazzle
Roar Rookie
As has been said by many others, his general option taking and game sense were non-existent in the first 40. We had been starved of the ball, the set piece was mis-firing. We needed to hang onto it and build some phases to get into the game. One chance he did a nothing chip kick hot on attack and handed it back cheaply. Another he bombed too long so they could receive under no pressure, he missed touch off a penalty when we had just earned a penalty in our 22, off a kick off he randomly went blind into trouble and we turned it over 1 phase later. Add on the long kick you mentioned. I don't even need to mention the sideways running. That is several bad options that put us under extra pressure when we really needed some calm and controlled play. I'll give fair credit: one nice kick return set Leicester free, and at the start of the second half (when he didn’t kick it away) we ran through the phases and ended up scoring the Stevenson try. But that was undermined by all the other terrible stuff.
Kilgore
Roar Rookie
You smell that? That gasoline smell, smells like Quade imploding... 77th min: Lord have mercy, take it upfield, play it in their half, force the penalty - victory. Instead QC (who I have defended in many a battle) drops a doozy... Somehow though I envisage he'll make amends in October...
CJ
Roar Rookie
Yea. Sorry. It shouldn't have been allowed. But for now I'm CAPS and you're littles
Qualify
Roar Rookie
It’s a simple question. I’m not.
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Roar Guru
Yes. Injuries. Form. Horses for courses, including adjustments when a combo elsewhere gets disrupted, eg backrow, enough jumpers in the pack. Tee kicker on field at all times. Was Carter going to slot that 58metre penalty? Lineout jumpers. Captain(s) So many factors come into a tournament. The first15 obsessed with their little pet hates, eg Hooper snr, Cooper, White, Slipper, Skelton. “Drop Them All!” has been agreed as a strategy in one section of the cheap seats this weekend. What gets me most is that Rennie, and now Eddie, picked these guys, more or less. (Obviously Carter only just turned up). What does the coaching team cost us? 2 or 3 million a year? Do they know anything about player trajectories/form/rehab/upside?I’m guessing that they know more than us in the mushroom section. Some players are coming back from injuries that a horse would be shot for, then going through month upon month of rehab to be able to walk, then run, then train, then play. And then they get onto the field and give their best. And at the end of that, waiting in the tunnel are a troupe of context agnostics (aka fans) opining on the ‘merit’ /commitment/effectiveness/retirement date of the brave individual. It’s okay to believe that a player doesn’t deserve his jersey of course. But the amount of ‘supportive’ data some pull up from half decades ago beggars belief. Then there’s the extreme negatives from the Know Little’s (which to be clear includes me). We are all ignorant of what is really happening in camp. We could use our eyes to learn, rather than to aim to shoot.
numpty
Roar Rookie
It’s not just what he said (for the 2nd time), it’s also the actions of the team. He did radically change how the team played. The proof is in the pudding of the teams performances. In the SA game, I think they held the ball for more than 5 phases once, in this game they would’ve held it more than five phases a handful of times by the 20 minute mark.
Jacko
Roar Rookie
Mate are you a Kiwi?
WEST
Roar Guru
Yes exactly. Because injuries are unavoidable. The Wallabies ran out of steam the last 40 minutes in Dunedin, EJ has to rest players & rotate the entire squad. I’m very curious who goes to France. Because if they think the pool games are easy.. be prepared to be very disappointed.
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Roar Guru
Good spot West. There seems to be an unconscious assumption amongst many posters that they are picking the best WB 23, or even the best WB 15. No. A tournament needs 33 or more. So much of the Tate vs Nick, Carter vs Quade, etc chat ignores the reality that squads win tournaments. Nz won in 2011 with their 4th string 10, for instance. First 15 arguments are context ignorant imo.