All Blacks retain Bledisloe Cup with big win over Eddie Jones’ Wallabies
The All Blacks have piled more misery onto Eddie Jones’ Wallabies, and ensured the stability of the New Zealand economy, by retaining the Bledisloe Cup for another year.
Playing in front of a packed house at the world-famous Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday, the All Blacks put on a second-half clinic as they ran away with a 38-7 win.
But that’s not to say it was easy. Not by any means.
During an action-packed weekend on the Aussie Rules calendar, ‘footy’ obsessed Melbourne embraced rugby and the Wallabies.
With just over a month to go until the upcoming Rugby World Cup, this was Australia’s last chance to see their rugby heroes in action on home soil – and they packed the stands in their droves.
An incredible crowd of 83,944 brought the noise during a tough clash between two great sporting rivals. When Australia play New Zealand in any sport, it doesn’t get much bigger than that.
Led by skipper Ardie Savea, the All Blacks charged out onto enemy territory at about 7:49 pm. They were met by a loud cheer, sure, but it was nothing compared to the cry that echoed through the venue a minute later.
Prop Allan Alaalatoa charged onto the hallowed turf of the MCG, and his Wallabies teammates followed. The Wallabies were coming off back-to-back losses and were desperate to make amends.
But the stakes, in a way, were much higher for the All Blacks. New Zealand had an opportunity to lock up the prestigious Bledisloe Cup for another year and secure The Rugby Championship crown.
New Zealand laid down their challenge with an intense rendition of Kapa o Pango, and Alaalatoa met the haka by presenting the visitors with a boomerang.
“Not long now” the fans surely thought.
Moments later, with a blow of the whistle from referee Wayne Barnes, the Test was underway. The ball was kicked high into the Melbourne sky, and just like that, the Bledisloe Cup rivalry was on.
Both teams failed to fire during the opening exchanges. Veteran Aaron Smith threw a couple of wayward passes, and young Wallabies flyhalf Carter Gordon struggled to get things going as well.
But then, almost out of nowhere, the All Blacks took the lead. Scott Barrett was front-and-centre on the reply screen, and some were left questioning what had just happened.
Scott Barrett is that guy 😤🤯
Hit if the year.#BledisloeCup pic.twitter.com/PuoDh5LRbr
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) July 29, 2023
The reply soon showed that Barrett had sent Wallabies halfback Tate McDermott into next week with a destructive tackle two-metres out from the try-line.
McDermott dropped ball, so the try was there for the taking. Flanker Shannon Frizell who was compared to legendary All Blacks No. 6 Jerome Kaino a fortnight ago, simply placed his hand on the ball. That’s all he had to do to open the scoring.
Australia were down by five points – but it didn’t last long.
Mark Nawaqanitawase nearly hit back a couple of minutes later after breaking through the New Zealand defensive line. But Beauden Barrett cut down the winger 15 metres out.
But that attack eventually led to a try to Rob Valetini. After failing to score out wide, the TMO was called upon for a desperate attempt at the line a few phases earlier. Replays showed that Valetini had just done enough.
Carter Gordon nailed the routine conversion attempt which gave the Wallabies the lead for the first time. Australia actually controlled the Test throughout the opening quarter or so – they looked better.
But a yellow card to world-class winger Marika Koroibete for a cynical foul in the 25th minute was a turning point. The Wallabies lost their way, especially young 10 Gordon.
As for their opponents, the All Blacks began to find their way. Codie Taylor hit back with a try in the 33rd minute, and Will Jordan added another to the score before the end of the half.
New Zealand went into the break with a hard-earned 7-19 lead.
But the All Blacks’ best was yet to come.
The Wallabies refused to throw in the towel, and even came close to scoring on a number of occasions. But once again, discipline let them down – that’s been a common theme for the men in gold.
It was a stalemate for almost 20 minutes in the second term. Both teams packed a punch, but neither corner was willing to throw in the towel.
But once replacement Taniela Tupou left the field – both shown a yellow card and injury – the All Blacks took control.
Caleb Clarke scored one minute later from a pick-and-drive, and Mark Telea crossed for another five minutes later.
Centre Rieko Ioane also added his name to the scoresheet in the 63rd minute as the visitors ran away with a convincing 38-7 victory at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
The All Blacks are this year’s Rugby Championship winners, and will look to extend their 2023 form to 4-0 when they take on the Wallabies next weekend in Dunedin.
As for the Wallabies, they’ve lost their first three matches under new coach Eddie Jones. Australia play New Zealand and France before starting their World Cup campaign in September.
Comments on RugbyPass
The Harlequins team must be in minus figures. Did the reporter actually watch the game?
2 Go to commentsHow on earth did Walker escape a red card? Not dangerous? Dupont has his face in a mask earlier this season. Shocking decision. What is the point of TMOs? We had the Fassi ‘non-penalty try’ yesterday and now this.
2 Go to commentsCould have been a different result but yet again French tv able to affect the result by not showing the very clear high shot on harlequin centre if this would have been on a French player would have been on screen at least five times
2 Go to commentsAmazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
2 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
2 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
2 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to commentsHarlequins doing their best to do as little damage as possible with all the possession. Looks like they skipped catch and pass drills this week.
7 Go to commentsSeeing pictures of Jacques high-fiving it with Irish players breaks my heart. Too soon. I need more time.
1 Go to commentsquins is all over the place. The minute they get the ball they panic. Quins can still win tho just need to win all rucks otherwise just don't bother.
7 Go to commentsGreat wins for the male & female kiwi sides. Ireland not far away..
1 Go to commentsWhy is this dude getting so much coverage? Usually knobs like this get cancelled.
2 Go to commentsWow. What was that? A 3 million word meandering article about what exactly?
2 Go to commentsNice piece of writing. And yes the Sharks pulled a rabbit from the hat and were a little lucky with that penalty try that wasn’t given… however the Sharks (with their resources) should be way more consistent and should be putting teams like Claremont away for breakfast. I expect more from them and hope they kick on now.
8 Go to commentsJust what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
8 Go to commentsWell done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to commentsSurprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to comments