How many times have we seen it? There are only a few minutes left in the games where the All Blacks are after, they come back and win in the dying embers of the match. Once again it was a converted attempt in added time that gave the Kiwis another win.
It was the same story against Ireland almost a year ago, when a after attempt by Crotty robbed the Irish of the undoubtedly deserved victory. Against Australia in the Bledisloe Cup, as always, it was a game of patience and an incredible domination in the last quarter of the match.
AUSTRALIA WINS after
It would be unfair to say that New Zealand deserved the victory, for most of the match he seemed to be under the spell of his Wallabies counterparts. The strength and determination that the Wallabies showed at the beginning of the match seems disturb the blacks to the point that they could not cope with the ingenuity of the golden men. It just shows that you are in trouble as soon as you give a team the experience, professionalism and desire of New Zealand.
Ironically, the turning point was the moment when Australia should have ended the match: when the all-black substitute Patrick Tuipolotu was sent to the trash can to eliminate Rob Simmons in the air.
The advantage of an extra man rather than giving the Australians an advantage turned out to be their worst playing time. From that moment on, they could only score 3 points and allowed the All Blacks to return to the game. The bottom half Smith got the key attempt that reduced the deficit to 3, and a Nick White penalty could not stop Fekitoa’s last-minute attempt and a cool conversion from Slade.
The loss means Australia haven’t won against the All Blacks since 2011. After the humiliating 51-20 defeat at Eden Park, the Australians were eager to do well and the result means they have lost their last three Tests. To add insult to injury, head coach Ewen McKenzie has resigned, leaving the Australians without a coach just 11 months before the 2015 World Cup in England.
DIGGING DEEP
Australia dominated the First 60 Minutes, their pace and momentum were fantastic; but as the stereotype says, “a game lasts 80 minutes” and it was precisely in the last 15 minutes that New Zealand set the style. Just like the match against Ireland, which the All Blacks won 24-22 in the last Minute, they began to dominate their opponents when the match seemed almost out of reach.
Perhaps it is encouraging to see that the teams are now able to compete with New Zealand and lose by a small margin compared to the 20, 30 points to which the All Blacks have accustomed us since their defeat to France in the quarter-finals of the 2007 World Cup. Still, it seems impossible to beat them, and they remain the untouchable team that just doesn’t seem to be losing.
In fact, they have lost only two games since their 5-3 victory in the World Cup Final at home against France: against England and more recently against South Africa in the Rugby Championship. Few teams can post results as flattering as the All Blacks.
Against Australia, they seemed to be average until Tuipolotu was a sin, but when they went out of gear, my Oh my Australia was back. The experience of this team is so phenomenal that you can never get past it to come back and get the victory that seemed so unfathomable a few minutes earlier. Fekitoa’s attempt, in my opinion, embodied the spirit that now defined this incredible team. He even continued the penalty advantage, hitting two men to put the ball down and giving Slade a chance to win this game.
The fantastic spirit and determination are the underlying qualities of this game; of course, the ability was certainly there, but I don’t think it would be unfair to say that the Wallabies showed more skill because of this game. The statistics are potentially concerning for New Zealand, which had only 37% possession and 19 misses in the first half alone. The handling errors, so unusual for the Kiwi team, are certainly a problem for head coach Steve Hansen, who will certainly not allow himself such mistakes during the autumn tests.
In the end, the scariest thought of all is that looking at New Zealand’s performances, you could almost say that it was a day off at the office and yet you came away with a victory against one of the best rugby nations in the world.
A supreme McCaw
New Zealand Kapatian
More than 130 selections for his country
We will probably never tire of saying that this man is perhaps one of the best open flankers Rugby has ever seen. Like his team, he lived the First 60 Minutes very unstable, but then was great in the last 20 minutes. Always on the sidelines and, above all, always in the right place at the right time.
It is a long time to say that Richie McCaw, lawful or unlawful, is always where he is needed; his Vision and reading of the game are unmatched in the game. Although he had aged and undoubtedly towards the end of his career, the All Black captain was just as relentless as his team. At the end of the match, he said: “The guys had to dig pretty deep. We were in cold blood at the end.”
Before Aaron Smith’s attempt, he was the one who got the ball back for his team and the attempt probably allowed the world champions to get back into the game. The 33-year-old will certainly play a crucial role in the November Tests and his (certainly) last World Cup.
