New Zealand’s All Blacks eased a public crisis of confidence on the weekend when they beat Australia 26-12 to win rugby’s Tri-Nations title.
Until Saturday’s match at Eden Park, New Zealand had appeared to struggle under the weight of favouritism for this year’s Rugby World Cup in France, compiling a series of lacklustre performances.
New Zealand had chosen as it’s Cup credo ”Believe in Black” but the belief of the public in the All Blacks’ Cup build-up had been damaged by their team’s unconvincing form, most recently a 20-15 loss to Australia in Melbourne.
A perception had been growing in New Zealand that the All Blacks’ Cup preparation had been mismanaged. Top players, dubbed the ”Cotton Wool Club,” had been held back from top rugby and their sub-par performances in six Tests this season suggested they were suffering from a lack of match play.
Dysfunction
Saturday’s Test was the last for both New Zealand and Australia before the World Cup, now six weeks away, and both sides took some heart from their performances. New Zealanders, particularly, celebrated a win which kept the Tri-Nations trophy and Bledisloe Cups in New Zealand and extended the All Blacks’ winning streak over the Wallabies at Eden Park to 22 years.
The dysfunction among the All Blacks backs — their inability to take try-scoring chances — had been the main concern of the season and that couldn’t be allayed on Saturday. If the All Blacks had the intention of running the ball, it was ditched when an electrical storm burst over Eden Park before kick-off and brought torrential rain which lasted well into the first half.
The rain, which made the ball slick and the surface treacherous, ended any hope of an open game and caused both sides to review their tactics in the few minutes before kick-off.
The first half resolved into a physical forward struggle which heightened in a second half in which New Zealand eventually gained control.
Points came from goalkicks until the 59th minute when All Blacks prop Tony Woodcock dived over the Wallabies line inches from the right-hand corner flag. The try was Woodcock’s second in Test rugby and his second in consecutive matches against Australia.
Daniel Carter provided the remainder of New Zealand’s points: seven penalties.
Stirling Mortlock kicked three penalties from three attempts for the Wallabies and Matt Giteau landed a wobbly, 48m drop goal — his first in Test rugby — for an early 6-3 lead.
The Wallabies dominated possession and territory in the first half.
They tested the All Blacks with high kicks and probed the blindside effectively, though they weren’t able to burst concerted New Zealand defence.
Two key substitutions after halftime, the replacement of scrumhalf Byron Kelleher with Brendon Leonard and hooker Anton Oliver with Keven Mealamu, stimulated a considerable improvement in the All Blacks’ form.
Those changes also brought to a somber end Kelleher and Oliver’s Test careers in New Zealand. Both will play for northern hemisphere clubs after the World Cup.
Leonard brought sharper passing to the halfback role and added an attacking threat around rucks and behind New Zealand’s dominant scrum.
Mealamu steadied a lineout which had struggled in the first half with Oliver’s inaccurate throws.
The All Blacks used their overwhelming scrum superiority as a building block to wider forward domination. They redressed Australia’s advantages of territory and possession and, when the only try of the match finally came there was no surprise that it developed from a scrum close to the Australian line.
”We got better as the game went on,” All Blacks coach Graham Henry said. ”It was a very tough first half in difficult conditions. We were more patient in the game we were trying to play [in the second half].” Carter also allayed concerns about his recent form. He landed seven goals from eight attempts, surpassing 100 Test points against Australia, and was heavily involved in the All Blacks’ pick and run
game. – Sapa-AP