In Australian rugby there is nothing more important outside of winning the RWC than the Bledisloe Cup and the Wallabies must have been shattered to have been held scoreless for the first time in 50 years against a great All Blacks side.
New Zealand was in complete control in Auckland on the weekend as they easily won 22-0 against a Wallabies outfit devoid of any attacking ideas.
The current All Blacks team is in my opinion much stronger that the team who won last year’s RWC because they have again lifted the bar against teams like the Wallabies who are currently ranked No.2, ridiculously miles behind the Kiwi’s.
To the Wallabies credit they defended well against the All Blacks who went on the attack from the kick-off and managed somehow to keep in the game for the first 20 minutes at least.
But under such sustained pressure the penalties were always going to come and with All Blacks five eighth Daniel Carter kicking three first half penalties to give the All Blacks a 9-0 lead going into the half time break.
The first ten minutes into the second half sealed the match for the All Blacks as they come out of the dressing room like an expressed train with Carter adding another three points to his tally and a superb try to fullback Israel Dagg which of course was converted by Carter to give the All Blacks a commanding lead of 19-0.
Minutes later Carter kicked another penalty goal and at 22-0 the All Blacks had won their 10th Bledisloe Cup series after fifty minutes and toyed with the Wallabies for the last 30 minutes of the game.
The All Blacks had plenty of chances to increase their lead but they were over eager to punish the Aussies that they squandered many great try scoring opportunities.
Players like Israel Dagg, No.9 Aaron Dagg, Sonny Bill Williams, Ma’u Nonu made metres every time they touched the football with the Wallabies continually on the back foot trying to stop the impending avalanche that was coming their way.
For the Wallabies it was the same old excuses kicking away vital possession far too often and not having the belief in each other to work harder on the field as a unit team.
Much was said of Quade Cooper two weeks before when he was left out of the Wallabies squad in Sydney but he was hardly recognisable in Auckland and had little, if no impact on the game itself.
Replacement full back Kurtley Beale who a year ago was rated the one of the game’s best No.15’s, had sixty minutes on the field and like Cooper he went through the motions without contributing too much to the Wallabies attack.
The Wallabies backline directed by No.12 Berrick Barnes kicked away far too much possession making it easy for the All Blacks to dominate the match and ultimately win the game.
The pressure in now on coach Robbie Deans to lift the Wallabies performance with his remaining four Rugby Championship games against South Africa and Argentina otherwise he may have to consider moving back to New Zealand.
The Wallabies fans are baying for blood and anything but a convincing win against the Springboks in Perth next weekend will save his hide.
Over the last two years the Wallabies have had the edge over the Springboks winning their last four matches but nothing is certain in this competition.
During his tenure with the Wallabies Deans has coached teams that have lost to Scotland twice, Samoa and last weekend coaching the first Australian team in fifty years not to have scored a point against New Zealand in a Test match.
He has lost 14 out of 17 matches against New Zealand who are Australia’s biggest competitor which is simply not good enough and I am afraid that the writing is on the wall for Wallabies coach Robbie Deans.
Mark Ella