Bledisloe II: Five things we learnt

Sat, Aug 14, 2021, 9:13 AM
Jim Tucker
by Jim Tucker
Savea breaks the Wallabies defence and gifts Jordan with a try in the corner

We’d seen this match before at the Olympics. It was the USA v Australia basketball game in Tokyo when the Boomers were right in the contest at half-time.

By full-time, it was a landslide the wrong way. The All Blacks have the Bledisloe Cup for another season after going into overdrive for their 57-22 victory at Auckland’s Eden Park.

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1 THE PRE-PROGRAMMED CUT-OUT PASS

Bin it. We’ve seen it two weeks running with seven-point intercept try giveaways to the All Blacks. A week ago, it was Hunter Paisami. In Bledisloe II, it was Noah Lolesio and Matt Toomua feeling compelled to throw cut-out balls across the face of the defence. 

Surely, something was learnt from the same alert Kiwi rush in Super Rugby Trans-Tasman when intercept tries were conceded.  

It was awful from the experienced Toomua. He practiced floating, long passes being picked off or thrown into touch in Super Rugby. Practice makes perfect.

Decision-making generally was poor. 

Assistant coach Dan McKellar was spot on: “We gave them a couple of gifts.”

Early blow for the Wallabies as Rieko Ioane bags an intercept try

2 HUGE FROM MICHAEL HOOPER

Michael Hooper has now played 28 times against the All Blacks for just four wins. He did everything possible to get Australia in the hunt in the first 55 minutes and to stem the damage from there.

He made runs with the ball, was ever-present at the breakdown, he made a terrific tackle to save a try when anticipating Sevu Reece’s dash off an inside ball and he led decisively.

Unfortunately, it was another losing speech with that dreaded undertone “we had our chances” and “we need longer performances”.

3 TATE McDERMOTT

The little halfback makes things happen. He schemes, works with the big bodies around him and he has a crack himself.

The wheeled scrum on half-time gave him a little space. He fended off an All Blacks flanker, stepped and darted for a vital try.

He’s done enough to keep his Test spot ahead of Nic White.

4 RUTHLESS ALL BLACKS

You just have to be impressed with how well the All Blacks do the basics to create their magic. 

When Lachie Swinton spilt that pass cold in the first half when the Wallabies were on attack, the Kiwis sniffed blood with a turnover attack. Fast-forward and lock Brodie Retallick has dotted down more than 60m downfield after a slick relay of passes. The Kiwis are just so impressive with their support around the ball.

The contrast was clear. When the Wallabies were facing 14 men, hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa came up with a crooked lineout throw 5m out.  The Australians didn’t capitalise on the yellow card advantage at all. The Wallabies needed 10 brilliant minutes when behind just 21-15 to take the lead. Instead, the undermanned All Blacks won that 10 minutes 10-0. Game over.

Savea breaks the Wallabies defence and gifts Jordan with a try in the corner

5 APPRECIATE THE KIWIS

Test rugby only pushes the limits because of the All Blacks and their relentless drive to attack their way to the top. All other nations play catch up and push their own levels to try to catch up.

Long may a strong All Blacks exist. The Wallabies have to keep pushing to get better for longer.

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