All Blacks v Wallabies: Five takeaways from a ‘breathless’ Bledisloe as Wellington rises to bid farewell to legendary duo
Our five takeaways as the All Blacks claimed a 33-13 victory over the Wallabies in Wellington.
Following the All Blacks’ 33-13 victory over the Wallabies in Wellington, here are our five takeaways from the Rugby Championship clash.
The top line
This was a Test match of wonderful ambition, pace and running rugby that saw New Zealand coast past a committed Australia as Will Jordan and his back three colleagues made hay to finally end the six-year winless streak of the All Blacks in Wellington.
The All Blacks ran in five tries from Sevu Reece, Jordan, Caleb Clarke (2) and replacement Tamaiti Williams as the New Zealand backline enjoyed one of their most liberated displays in recent times.
Australia started with a bang as Fraser McReight continued his impressive form and scoring record with a short-range effort after eight minutes, but after that, Australia perhaps struggled to break the last line of All Black defence despite having over 65% possession and territory in the first half, as indiscipline saw the hosts concede 11 penalties in that period.
But as Kiwi discipline improved greatly in the second, the relative bench impacts made a big difference as Williams smashed over from a series of rucks on the Wallaby line and both Cortez Ratima and David Havili added intellect and experience from the All Blacks bench to seal the victory.
Jordan masterclass
If you were wondering about Jordan’s fitness after his injury woes of recent times you need worry no longer. The brilliant All Black was at his coruscating best, running some 158 metres from 11 carries and created absolute havoc in the Wallaby defence.
Aside from his own score, the constant gain of his kick returns and transition running simply tore the Wallabies apart as the full-back had a hand in three of the New Zealand tries, including one for himself as he ghosted past McReight, who for once got his timing all wrong and was completely wrong-footed by a step of genius from the All Black flyer.
Jordan found ambitious cohorts around him with Clarke joining the party to run 90 metres from 10 carries, including finishing off a lovely move down the right wing off a miss pass from Anton Lienert-Brown, another of the Kiwi backs that impressed.
With Wallace Sititi enjoying himself with the ball in hand as New Zealand’s top carrier with 19, Australia will rue some of their tackling; for the large part they stayed in the fight but the two missed chances that killed their defensive effort from McReight and before that, Hunter Paisami on Sititi, cost them dearly and gave New Zealand the chance to get a real foothold in the game.
Breakdown battle
For a Test match to see a total of 14 turnovers in the game is quite remarkable and it was a mark of the speed of the test, with real intent to create dynamic rucks from both sides, that created the opportunities to steal.
In a game played at such speed, clearers simply didn’t have time to remove challengers as both New Zealand and Australia had their moments at the jackal contest, but it was the Kiwis who dominated, claiming nine clear steals to the Wallabies five, with Scott Barrett and replacement prop Pasillo Tosi both claiming a brace each.
The Wallabies had their moments too – Taniela Tupou was a constant menace around the contest, aided and abetted by Harry Wilson, McReight, who also topped the tackle count with 19 to underline the impact of his match, and the tireless Nick Frost, who put in a superb 65-minute shift that saw him hammer 17 players in contact, steal two lineouts and grab a turnover as he drained the tank.
It was breathless stuff and a word must go to referee Nika Amashukeli, who allowed a real contest on the edge of legality on the gainline to inject speed of recycle and pace of continuity into the match.
Two legends
TJ Perenara and Sam Cane have a number of things in common. Firstly, they’ve played their Test career in the shadows of others’ reputations – in Perenara’s case he’s always been second fiddle to the great Aaron Smith and in Cane’s situation, his biggest crime as a player is he’s not the man who preceded him in the All Black seven shirt, Richie McCaw.
But there’s no two players that embody the teamship and culture of the All Blacks more than these two warriors and it was fitting that as both were replaced, Perenara by Ratima on 62 minutes and Cane by Luke Jacobson on 67, that Wellington rose to give both men a standing ovation for their immense contribution to All Black rugby.
For Perenara, it was the end of his journey of 87 Tests and some 20 international tries. A man that defined impudence, spike and snipe, his passion in leading New Zealand’s Haka for the last eight years on home soil will be an abiding memory of all who’ve enjoyed witnessing the brilliant talent of the cheeky Hurricane.
Cane reaches 100 caps and although he’ll always have the cloud of a red card in a World Cup final hanging over his head, nobody has played the game with greater honesty and sportsmanship than the Kiwi flank, a deeply candid man, always engaging to the media and pundits post-match and an absolute credit not only to the All Black jersey, but the heritage of the number seven he wears on that shirt.
Their ovations in Wellington may have been for different reasons, but both wholly deserved the respect of their passionate fans.
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Learnings
Looking back over the 2024 Rugby Championship through the lenses of these two sides does make one wonder how the absence of South African teams from Super Rugby have taken the edge off the performances of both nations.
New Zealand have had their moments and with Beauden Barrett at 10 for most of this game, coupled with the emergence of Sititi and the form of Jordan has seen the All Blacks regain some pride in Round Six, but there’s still a question mark if they’re an 80 minute team like the New Zealand of old. Sure, their transition attack looked a lot healthier in Wellington but up front, they still look a little short of tonnage in the back five of their pack compared to teams like South Africa (and Ireland in the series before) but they are a work in progress under Scott Robertson and we certainly saw his attacking ambition come to the fore on Saturday.
For the Wallabies, they lost a little more heavily than perhaps they should have given their performance generally in defence, but those two missed tackles absolutely killed any chance of them getting a foothold back in the game.
But there are signs of progress; the pack is developing into a stable and competitive unit, with Angus Bell, Frost and Wilson adding some real class to the known quantities like Rob Valetini and McReight. The backline showed on Saturday that time together shouldn’t be underestimated and we saw the attack starting to gel into a consistent and intelligent force, even if perhaps they need a little more in terms of carrying straight and winning big collisions.
Factor in the improved depth of the squad with some classy displays off the bench from Tate McDermott and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto in the last couple of weeks and perhaps the Wallaby public have reason for very cautious and gentle optimism as Australia travel to the UK in November to test their progress in a four-Test tour.
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