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‘We’re heading the right way: How the All Blacks ‘put teams to the sword’
With just over a month to go until the upcoming Rugby World Cup, the All Blacks have made another statement with a 38-7 win over fierce rivals Australia at the MCG.
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Playing in front of more than 83,000 people at the world-famous Melbourne Cricket Ground, the All Blacks pulled away from a valiant Australian side in the second half.
The Wallabies were the better team for the majority of the openside term, but they couldn’t convert their pressure and dominance into points.
Holding a slender two-point lead, flyhalf Carter Gordon missed a seemingly routine penalty attempt that would’ve changed the game. It proved to be a costly error against the All Blacks.
The All Blacks took control as Codie Taylor and Will Jordan crossed for quick tries before the half-time break. But the best was yet to come.
Mark Telea helped inspire the All Blacks’ second-half point-scoring blitz. The winger scored a try, had an assist, and ended up breaking nine tackles as he ran for almost 130 metres.
After walking off the field and down the tunnel with The Rugby Championship trophy in his hands, Telea spoke with reporters about the importance of remaining patient on the rugby field.
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“I think we’re really good when we’re patient and we keep the ball in hand and I guess we put teams to the sword when we go that,” Telea said.
“When we do too much, other teams get a look at the ball and then we’re getting penalised, and that’s just footy at the same time.
“I guess it just comes back to us understanding where we’re at in the game and listening to our game drivers.”
The All Blacks have won all three of their Test matches in 2023 so far, which included other wins over Argentina and South Africa.
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Clearly, a year is a long time in Test rugby.
New Zealand were beaten by Ireland, South Africa and Argentina last year, but the All Blacks have turned things around in a big way ahead of the upcoming Rugby World Cup in France.
“Massive, it’s massive,” Telea added. “This year we want to set a goal and I feel like we’re achieving it, we’re heading the right way.
“We’re just slowly ticking them off. I feel like we’re heading in the right direction, we’ve just got to keep heading that way.”
Telea was sensational during Super Rugby Pacific this season, and the electric winger has carried that form into the Test arena.
Lining up on the left, and with in-form winger Will Jordan on the other, the All Blacks have some world-class outside backs at their disposal.
But that doesn’t mean that Telea has cemented his place in the All Blacks’ starting side.
“Not settled at all, every week is a different challenge.
“We’re all competing for positions here. I guess for myself I can’t get complacent.”
The All Blacks take on the Wallabies again next weekend at Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr Stadium. That’s their final Test on New Zealand soil before heading to Europe for the World Cup.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
31 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
31 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
31 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
31 Go to comments