The Australian press envisaged worst-case scenarios for the Wallabies’ Tri-Nations campaign on Monday after their bumbling near-record loss to trans-Tasman nemesis New Zealand on the weekend.
The rampant All Blacks totted up seven tries to demolish the Wallabies 49-28 in Melbourne on Saturday and take an iron grip on this year’s series, with reigning champions South Africa yet to win a point from three Tests.
The Wallabies must quickly regroup for Saturday’s Test in Christchurch, where they have to defy the odds and down the All Blacks to keep alive this year’s four-Test Bledisloe Cup.
Australia need a history-defying three straight wins to reclaim the Bledisloe Cup, which the All Blacks have held since 2003.
The Sydney Morning Herald, under the headline “Wallabies experiment with limits of embarrassment”, said New Zealand have an enormous psychological advantage over the Wallabies and could make the homecoming for Australia’s Kiwi coach, Robbie Deans, a miserable event.
“The Wallabies could collapse the same way as they did last year, winning just one of six Tri-Nations matches,” the newspaper said.
“It could easily be the same horrible scenario this year. The last four Tri-Nations matches are a torture test, with the match in Christchurch followed by a fortnight in South Africa and they must then rush back to Sydney to play the All Blacks seven days later.
“If the Wallabies again manage only one win out of six Tests, [Australian Rugby Union CEO] John O’Neill’s and the ARU board’s patience with Deans and co may simply run out.”
Sharing the blame
But the Herald said the players must also share the heat for their run of eight defeats to the All Blacks.
Former Test hooker Brendan Cannon, writing in the Daily Telegraph, said the big difference between the two sides was that the Wallabies lose control too easily.
“At times, the Wallabies proved they have the punch in attack and muscle in defence to mix it with the big guns of New Zealand and South Africa at next year’s World Cup,” Cannon said.
“But the sustained 80-minute display is the holy grail coach Robbie Deans is searching for.”
The Australian newspaper said once again the All Blacks forced the Wallabies to rethink an entire element of their game.
“The New Zealanders completely negated the advantage the kick-reception side usually enjoys of being able to lift jumpers up to catch the ball by having flyhalf Dan Carter fire in low-trajectory drop-kick ‘darts’,” the newspaper said.
“Usually, teams kicking off aim at getting as much hang time as possible to give their own players time to get under the ball, but the All Blacks opted for the more aggressive approach of lower, flatter kicks that their own chasers could deflect back to their support.
“It worked five times out of seven.” — Sapa-AFP