Australia
5
Match Complete
New Zealand
43
| 74 |  | R. Mo'unga | ||
| 73 |  | J. Barrett | ||
| 72 | | R. Mo'unga | ||
| 70 | | R. Ioane | ||
| 59 |  | R. Mo'unga | ||
| N. Lolesio | | 41 | ||
| 31 | | R. Mo'unga | ||
| 29 | | D. Coles | ||
| 27 | | R. Mo'unga | ||
| 26 | | R. Mo'unga | ||
| 20 | | R. Mo'unga | ||
| 6 | | R. Mo'unga | ||
| 4 | | K. Tu'inukuafe |
| 1 | Tries | 6 | ||
| 0 | Conversions | 5 | ||
| 0 | Penalty Goals | 1 | ||
| 0 | Field Goals | 0 |
The Wallabies go head-to-head with the All Blacks tonight in a do-or-die Bledisloe Cup clash at ANZ Stadium, Sydney. Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 7:45pm (AEDT).
As the competition returns to Australian shores, the Wallabies must win these two home games to regain the Cup for the first time in 18 years.
To make the occasion even more crucial, not only is the Bledisloe on the line, points for the Tri Nations, which replaces the Rugby Championship this year, are also up for grabs.
Injuries to playmakers Matt To’omua and James O’Connor have forced Dave Rennie to select debutants Noah Lolesio and Irae Simone to replace them. The Wallabies’ flyhalf-inside centre combination has gone from having over 100 Test caps to zero.
Simone and Lolesio have spent plenty of time playing together at the Brumbies, where they guided their team to the first-ever Super Rugby AU title.
They will need to be at the top of their game if Australia are to have any chance of keeping the series alive and setting up a Game 4 decider.
There are more changes to the side outside the 10-12 axis, too. Jordan Petaia will start at 13 with Hunter Paisami dropped to the bench and Dane Haylett-Petty replaces Tom Banks at fullback.
In the forwards, prop Allan Alaalatoa has pushed Taniela Tupou out of the starting side, while Tate McDermott and Fraser McReight have been named on the bench for their debuts.
On the other hand, the New Zealanders are without two of their key players, Nepo Laulala and Ardie Savea, who are both on paternity leave. Hoskins Sotutu is set to start his first Test and replace Savea at number eight, while Tyrel Lomax takes Laulala’s spot amongst the substitutes.
Veteran second-rower Sam Whitelock will return to the side after recovering from a concussion, and Karl Tu’inukuafe comes into the starting XV for Joe Moody. On the bench, Reiko Ioane and Ngani Laumape replace Damian McKenzie and Peter Umaga-Jensen respectively, and Dalton Papalii has been named to make his debut.
All eyes will be on young Caleb Clarke who tore Australia’s defence to pieces in the last fixture. The 21-year-old is already being touted as the next Jonah Lomu and will be out to impress in his first All Black game away from home.
However, the Wallabies gifted the young winger too much uncontested ball in Auckland, and are looking to restrict Clarke with a more accurate kick-chase game.
Prediction
You shouldn’t disregard the potential in the young, inexperienced Wallabies line-up, and playing a home Test for the first time in more than a year will give them a boost. However, the All Blacks are deservedly favourites for this one.
New Zealand by 15.
Match information
Kick-off: 7:45pm (AEDT)
Venue: ANZ Stadium
TV: Fox Sports, Channel Ten
Live stream: Kayo Sports, Foxtel, 10Play
Referee: Ben O’Keefe
Assistant referees: Paul Williams, Nic Berry
TMO: Angus Gardner
Odds: New Zealand $1.25, Australia $4
Teams
Wallabies
1 James Slipper, 2 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 4 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 5 Matt Philip, 6 Ned Hanigan, 7 Michael Hooper (c), 8 Harry Wilson, 9 Nic White, 10 Noah Lolesio, 11 Marika Koroibete, 12 Irae Simone, 13 Jordan Petaia, 14 Filipo Daugunu, 15 Dane Haylett-Petty
Bench: 16 Jordan Uelese, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Fraser McReight, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Reece Hodge, 23 Hunter Paisami
All Blacks
1 Karl Tu’inukuafe, 2 Dane Coles, 3 Ofa Tuungafasi, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 6 Shannon Frizell, 7 Sam Cane (c), 8 Hoskins Sotutu, 9 Aaron Smith, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 11 Caleb Clarke, 12 Jack Goodhue, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 14 Jordie Barrett, 15 Beauden Barrett
Bench: 16 Codie Taylor, 17 Alex Hodgman, 18 Tyrel Lomax, 19 Scott Barrett, 20 Dalton Papalii, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Ngani Laumape, 23 Rieko Ioane
Gun Dog
Roar Rookie
My thoughts exactly ..the Wallabies offered nothing...abysmal display.... :thumbdown:
Gun Dog
Roar Rookie
Me
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
It was a late drop in height
Machpants
Roar Guru
Rennie said it for him
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Your talking about Petaia I assume?
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Doesn’t matter unless it’s a drastic late drop in height. Even then it’s a mitigating factor that Changes the colour of the card, not completely absolution. Look at the last card of the game as an example. If that one was cardable so was this.
taylorman
Roar Guru
Hi ya matey, no got a bit disillusioned with sport while covid was on but good to see it back - in parts. Quite surprised at the ease of the win but it does highlight to Rennie the real difference between the test and other levels a bit.
Clifto
Roar Pro
Not blaming the forwards for the loss, our backs were diabolical. But I don't recall the metres you suggest from our forwards, they seemed easily contained
soapit
Roar Guru
catch bombs. less kicking. more execution on kicking. dial back offloads
soapit
Roar Guru
yeah simone nowhere near the bottom of the backs.
Whatwasthatforsir?
Roar Rookie
It can be done. And it will. They've had a bad loss. That's all. They are all great athletes doing what they think is best out the best that they know. The new administration has a lot of work to do. It will take time and be frustrating. But it can and will be done. They will own the loss today for the future. We will need to have faith in DR and our young men.
soapit
Roar Guru
Nah but they were too short when they needed to be long and too long on the bombs
Terry Tavita
Roar Pro
hooper has a million caps and still hasn't won a bledisloe..
Tony
Roar Guru
Hang in there Nicko. It was a very disappointing performance and one that shouldn't have to be witnessed by any WB fan. For mine, and I'm no Rugby expert, they need players with some passion and pride in the Australian jersey, not just guys racking up test match appearances. A bit of mongrel. That lot that turned up last night expected to lose and thought it was acceptable to do so.
Boosho
Roar Pro
We need a captain. I wouldn't follow sk8ter boi to the corner store let alone into battle
Dean
Roar Rookie
Big bad “Men” must have taken a wee little man nap for him to have such a “Big Play”. We thank the NZ Big bad “Men” team for being so generous.May your camels be blessed for a thousand years. We are not worthy.
Faith
Roar Rookie
I really don't think this WBs team is 37pts behind the ABs. Foster and co should not be too carried away by this performance - other than Mounga I am not totallly convinced the forwards still lacked the consistency of a world class tight five. Also, this was a rookie 10 and 12. They still have to meet the Boks, England and a rising France.
Stu
Roar Rookie
Yep, caught it, and dived over the line. Big play. Well done.
Lux Interior
Roar Rookie
Red card threshold met. Officials should get a please explain from the boss.
ThugbyFan
Roar Guru
Harry, I wasn't in the stadium when the national anthem was sung by the musician David Nduwimana, but I did read in the SMH that he is actually a refugee from Burundi who met the current RA CEO Rob Clarke about 4 years ago. Clarke was so moved of the plight of the fellow who was jumping through the hoops for his refugee visa acceptance that he and his family accepted Mr Nduwimana in their own home while he got his visa and life (money, clothes, job, studies etc etc) settled. Mr. Nduwimana got his visa this year and Clarke so admired the bloke that he asked him to sing the Australian anthem at this match, in his own words "to help celebrate you moving from Burundi Dave to Aussie Dave". A touching story that shows Rob Clarke is not some callous self-centred apparatchik but a bloke with a very kind heart.