Bledisloe Cup 2016:   24 Oct 2016

Wayne Smith

Bledisloe Cup 2016

NZL bag record in Aus rout2:40

Rugby: New Zealand bag record in thumping of Australia

New Zealand winger Julian Savea draws the attention of Australia’s Henry Speight, Dane Haylett-Petty and Israel Folau.

Once again, the Wallabies are left to wander the ruins of a Bledisloe Cup detonation and pick over what they can salvage from another All Blacks Test when, as five-eighth Bernard Foley sadly noted yesterday, victory was so within their reach.

It was not just that they attacked for long periods. They did that against England too, stubbornly but pointlessly. No, this time their attack was constructive and searching and, as New Zealand hooker Dane Coles admitted afterwards, the All Blacks were tested as they have not been in a single match this year.

“That was the most disap­pointing facet of the game, that we had a lot of chances, a lot of opportunities, a lot of possession and territory at the right end of the field and we just lacked the execution,” Foley said. “We weren’t able to get that last past to stick or score that try. That is crucial. Whenever you get opportunities against a team like the All Blacks, you have to take them.”

So while the All Blacks were celebrating their 18th straight win in a Test, a tier one world record, the Australians were left to contemplate their seventh defeat in 10 Tests this season. Two straight 3-0 series defeats, to Eddie Jones’s Eng­land and Steve Hansen’s New Zealand, make this, statistically, the worst season since Australia entered Test football in 1899. It was fair to say the frustration was written large in Michael Cheika’s post-match comments.

Yet, as the Australians regroup for their spring tour of Europe in a week’s time, there is no shortage of hope for the Wallabies to cling to. While Foley might have been ­expected to say that of course the Wallabies could win the Grand Slam on tour, the fact is that the northern hemisphere tour is ­exciting for so many reasons.

The first, it must be said, is Foley himself. There were those who feared that his move back to five-eighth from inside centre was an attempt to limit the damage, a sign that Cheika couldn’t quite bring himself to roll the dice for an all-out shot at victory with Quade Cooper, even though that selection probably would lead to a massive defeat.

In fact, the Wallabies proved quite capable of beating the All Blacks with Foley calling the shots. He was in their faces all the time, probing the line, deftly distributing to his outside backs. The manner in which he made nonsense of the All Blacks defence to send Henry Speight on his ultimately futile run to the line was pure genius. Indeed, the only criticism that can be made is that he missed two kickable penalty goals, and the quicker centre Reece Hodge is transformed from a part-time long-range specialist to fulltime kicker, the Wallabies’ potency will rise by 10 per cent.

Hodge, indeed, is another ­reason for optimism. He played himself to a standstill on Saturday night and though he made mistakes — underestimating Ben Smith’s phenomenal speed, for starters — he was involved in just about every meaningful Wallabies raid. It might just have been the most impressive debut for a man playing at inside centre for the first time since Tim Horan made his debut at the same ground in 1989.

Unhappily, he had only 20 ­minutes to form a partnership with outside centre Samu Kerevi before the giant Queenslander was forced off with what could be ankle syndesmosis — which, if confirmed, could rule him out of the spring tour. But it’s a partnership worth persevering with.

Australia’s locks — and reserve Rob Simmons deserves as many plaudits as starters Rory Arnold and Adam Coleman — provided precisely what Cheika was demanding, tough, physical play and threatening the All Blacks with every carry. Arnold and Coleman are still a work in progress but there is much to like about them, both individually and as a pairing.

The Australian scrum, too, held up against what, without any fanfare, has become the best set piece in world rugby, although when ­referee Nigel Owens indulged the Phil Kearns of the world by ­packing four scrums in succession on what soon will become the cricket pitch area of the centre square, it was clear that halfback Nick Phipps has some work to do on his off-spinners.

There was no left to right movement whatever in his scrum feed.

The Wallabies have now won only once under Owens and never against the All Blacks in five ­attempts under his officiating.

Another defeat at Eden Park, one which yet again drove home to the Wallabies that rugby is played over 80 minutes, but there is genuine cause for optimism when the 35 or so players are named today.

But there was one surprising revelation yesterday, when it became clear that the two Tests that bookend the tour, against Wales on November 5 and England on December 3 both fall outside the Test window. That means halfback Will Genia won’t be available, not unless Cheika is able to sweet talk his old Parisian club, Stade Francais.

Source:  The Australian

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