Summary
Thank you for joining me tonight. I’ve got to quickly jump over to Tokyo and keep my eye on the Olympics. I’ll leave you with the first cut match report and see you back here next week for round two.
Victory to New Zealand in a match that was far from a classic at Eden Park. The All Blacks chipped away in the opening half, earned some breathing room from Mo’unga’s intercept try, and established a 33-8 lead before putting their cue in the rack 15 minutes from time.
Australia were never outplayed but lacked execution at crucial times. Once again they failed to find combinations in the backline, they did not take advantage of almost double the number of penalties awarded in their favour, and Lolesio kicking 2/7 is always going to be a handicap.
The way Australia fought to the final whistle and added 17 unanswered points will give them plenty of confidence ahead of Bledisloe II - also at Eden Park - next weekend.
Full-time: New Zealand 33-25 Australia
Bledisloe I to the All Blacks at Eden Park.
TRY! New Zealand 33-25 Australia (Uelese 80+3)
Australia secure the lineout, set up a rolling maul, Uelese peels off with the ball and bulldozes his way over for the final score of the match. Australia have done superbly in the final 20 minutes.
Lolesio finally kicks some points.
80+2 mins: Australia keep the ball alive as long as they can with short drives, inviting New Zealand into errors. Eventually they accept a penalty and kick to the corner.
80 mins: Another offside penalty against the All Blacks. Despite the scoreline this has been a scrappy old showing from New Zealand. One final Wallaby attack.
79 mins: The lineout works and the Wallaby forward get to work with pick and go drives. They get to the line and look certain to score... but the whistle blows for a gold jersey (Uelese) playing off his feet. Let-off for the All Blacks.
78 mins: Penalty against Beauden Barrett (on as a sub) on Australia’s 22 following the restart. The kick downfield sets up a lineout on halfway. The Wallabies try to go through hands but it’s slow and formulaic and Banks is nailed i midfield. Eventually there’s a recycle to the right, which is then sent through the hands of Hooper to the left. An offside advantage gives Lolesio the freedom to attempt the bullet pass on his blindside, the left, where Banks hits the line at serious force to almost break the defensive line. He can’t, but Australia can still kick to the corner.
TRY! New Zealand 33-18 Australia (Banks 75)
Massive shove from the Wallabies to earn a penalty against the feed on the halfway scrum. That sets up a lineout on the 22 that is safely executed. There’s no fluency off the back but that doesn’t bother Lolesio. He exploits the stagnant ball by chipping through to Banks’ advantage and the fullback flies through, gets his toe on the ball to tap ahead, then get his fingertips to the touchdown. Australia coming home with a wet sail.
Not Lolesio’s night off the boot though. He misses yet another kick. This one, at least, was very trick, even at the best of times.
73 mins: Kellaway misses Banks with a floaty pass. Hodge only just holds onto the bouncing ball and play grinds to a halt in midfield. Tiredness now coming into the mix, along with the wind, ring rust, and general lack of form all round.
72 mins: Banks gets back into the gam quickly after the restart, galloping 25m to halfway. The All Blacks soon force the Wallabies into retreating and eventually kicking possession away. Aaron Smith jogs off to a huge ovation on his 100th Test. He has starred tonight yet again.
TRY! New Zealand 33-13 Australia (Banks 70)
Another good lineout, but no maul this time. McDermott is alive to the opportunity off the back and hits Paisami on the burst but the All Black defence is up to the task. There is a siege on the New Zealand line with pick and go drives left and right of the breakdown but the All Blacks somehow manage to hold out. Eventually the Wallabies send it through hands, and there’s a huge overlap on the left. Lolesio does well to draw in the tackler and time his pass to To’omua perfectly. He sends it on to Banks to add the finishing touches.
Lolesio tugs another kick. Shocking night for the Wallabies No 10.
68 mins: We’re into pride, and momentum ahead of Bledisloe II, territory now. Australia begin this game within a game well, kicking to the corner, securing the lineout, then pushing forcefully with a terrific rolling maul. A try is on offer for the pick and go off the back of the breakdown, but nobody can extricate the ball and play comes back for the penalty advantage.
TRY! New Zealand 33-8 Australia (McKenzie 65)
The AB forwards get to work, picking and driving through midfield to get within 5m. Smith marshals a drive left but Lienert-Brown is held up. Back to the pick and drives infield until the try line is lickable like a line of sherbert. Smith takes over once again, waits until the moment is optimal and fires another bullet out from the ruck to the left wing where McKenzie accepts and darts in at the corner. Excellent patient, controlled attacking.
Mo’unga repeats his (and Lolesio’s) earlier mistake off the tee.
63 mins: McReight is on for the Wallabies, and I know this because he has conceded one of the clearest breakdown penalties you could imagine. New Zealand milking the clock now in this second half, kicking to the 22 as yet more replacements flood onto the field.
62 mins: Banks does well to take a high box kick 10m inside All Black territory. A couple of phases later the Wallabies are awarded a penalty, which is tapped and run quickly, but Paisami can’t hold on in contact and the All Blacks regain possession. Australia have consistently struggled with their centres linking play this season so far.
60 mins: Mo’unga misses the conversion in exactly the same way Lolesio failed with his kicks in the first half.
TRY! New Zealand 28-8 Australia (Havili 58)
The All Blacks rumble slowly forward off the back of a lineout on Australia’s 22. The move through hands from centre-field to the left isn’t crisp but it gets the job done. The gain line keeps being crossed as the attack heads back infield. With the ruck 5m from home Smith dips into his quiver and pulls out an arrow, sending a gorgeous pass arcing over bodies to Havili to catch, step inside, then dive and reach over. Brilliant from Smith. New Zealand now firmly in control.
57 mins: Scrum to Australia. Soon enough it’s a penalty to New Zealand. Tupou is now on the field for the Wallabies but he’s pinged when Hooper breaks behind him, forcing him to topple over.
56 mins: The All Blacks keep things simple for a series of short phases up the guts, but Australia never give them easy ball at the breakdown and eventually force the error with a knock-on at the ruck.
55 mins: New Zealand are penalised on their own 22. Australia have to kick to the corner and lay siege in search of a try as the forward replacements come on in droves. The lineout is secured but the counter-maul from the All Blacks stifles any momentum. Paisami then tries to barrel through, but he’s stripped in the tackle! Australia cough up a golden opportunity and New Zealand run clear down the left.
TRY! New Zealand 23-8 Australia (Mo'unga 52)
The Wallabies have the run. They gather the restart and reload down the left wing. McDermott is bright, Hooper and the rest of the pack are busy recycling phases. The drive takes them from near halfway to the 22. Can they find the backs? They try shifting from left to right. They try again and...oh my.... oh boy... Paisami throws a spear to Petaia, but Mo’unga reads it, steps up, intercepts like Neo in bullet time and dashes 60m unopposed to dive under the posts. He adds the conversion for good measure. What a game-changing moment.
50 mins: Lolesio misses again! He can’t utilise the wind to his advantage, dragging his long ranger left. The Wallabies have left eight very gettable points out there now.
48 mins: Another scrum requires packing twice, and on the second occasion it ends with a penalty to the Wallabies. Lolesio can go for goal from the halfway line.
46 mins: The lineout is secured, then the All Blacks travel 90 metres, from right to left, to right, to score! The ball went through who knows how many hands before it touched down. It was brave and audacious to attempt to run from so deep in their defensive area. But... there’s a flag on the play. There’s at least one, maybe two forward passes in amongst the blistering attack, and the superb move does not result in a try. Scrum to Australia on halfway.
45 mins: The first scrum of the half requires resetting. At the second time of asking it holds long enough for Australia to break, but as they move from left wing infield Lienert-Brown nails a tackle and stops any momentum. The Wallabies regroup and McDermott shows plenty of game awareness to kick to the left corner and lock the All Blacks into defensive territory.
43 mins: Solid lineout on halfway from Australia but the ball is slow out of the ruck and McDermott has to kick. It works for the Wallabies though. A huge Garryowen is difficult for Reece to take on the burst and he knocks on.
42 mins: Kellaway does well to accept the restart on his 22 near the touchline. The Wallabies go for a front row drive and soon earn a breakdown penalty against Retallick.
We’re all set for the second half...
Updated
2 missed kicks for the Wallabies (5 points) 😨@JPHowcroft #BledisloeCup
— ZEUS SPORT 🥇🥈🥉 (@Zeus66sport) August 7, 2021
Yes, very costly. A bit like a cricket pitch that requires both sides to bat on it before rushing to judgement, we’ll have to wait and see how Mo’unga deals with that tricky wind.
Half-time: New Zealand 16-8 Australia
Not the best half of rugby in Bledisloe history, but it ends with the All Blacks ahead.
TRY! New Zealand 16-8 Australia (Reece 40)
40 mins: Solid lineout, the maul begins to rumble, the crowd get their throats into it. They reach two metres out - and the penalty advantage arrives. Can New Zealand find the try? It’s a mess on the line, bodies everywhere. AND THE ARM GOES UP! Reece jogs away with the pick-and-go try. Whitelock’s decision to kick to the corner vindicated.
Mo’unga dabs over the conversion.
39 mins: Penalty advantage to the All Blacks as they try to link phases in midfield. They fail, and play is advanced a long way downfield and turns a tricky kick into a gimme. But Mo’unga turns it down and kicks to the corner! Big flex from New Zealand.
38 mins: Lolesio again misses a simple-looking kick. From 22m, on a 45 degree angle he glides his effort wide right.
TRY! New Zealand 9-8 Australia (Kellaway 36)
The first moment of class of the night and Australia score! Lineout 10m inside New Zealand’s half and the throw goes way way over the back where Paisami hits it on the burst, through the defensive line, and on his inside shoulder Kellaway is in support and has the speed to burst through and over midway between the posts and the left corner. Superb set play from the Wallabies! Brandon Paenga-Amosa has been under pressure, but what a call.
36 mins: Cheeky lineout from Australia sees McDermott run 10m down the blindside, set up a couple of phases infield and earn an offside penalty. This remains a scrappy, stop-start, low quality contest.
35 mins: The All Blacks run again, but fail to make ground in midfield. Mo’unga slips a tackle and offloads niftily to the right, but not for the first time they run out of room and the stout Australian defence earns a lineout on their defensive 22.
33 mins: Lolesio goes crossfield with his exiting kick, and it invites pressure when the All Blacks secure it. They can’t connect in the backs though - their handling has been awful tonight - and the territorial kick is claimed well by Kellaway who marks and clears.
PENALTY! New Zealand 9-3 Australia (Lolesio 32)
Much closer, much straighter, much better for Lolesio. Both teams on the board.
31 mins: Superb chargedown from Salakaia-Loto gives Australia a lineout on New Zealand’s 22. The ball is secured safely, goes infield for a couple of phases then Retallick is too tall for the sniping McDermott and the Wallabies win a very kickable penalty.
PENALTY! New Zealand 9-0 Australia (Mo'unga 30)
Just inside Australia’s half, 10m in from the left, Mo’unga sends another missile miles up and over the bar. All Blacks extend their lead.
28 mins: New Zealand run for a series of phases on the left wing, Lienert-Brown, barrelling through. The ball comes infield inside Australia’s half and McKenzie is trying to dance through. He can’t though, Hooper pinches the turnover and Australia regroup. Not for long though, another breakdown near halfway and the Wallabies are pinged for interfering on the ground. Another long penalty effort for Mo’unga on the way.
26 mins: Lolesio also requires a teammate to keep his ball steady. Can he narrow the margin? NO! That was a gimme in regular circumstances but the wind made the ball misbehave in the air and fade wide. Opportunity missed.
25 mins: The drop-out is short and gathered by the Wallabies. There’s soon an offside advantage on the play. Australia move from left to right again, but the phase ends with Paisami kicking away possession - not for the first time in his career. Play is called back for the penalty and a shot for goal 30m out, 10m infield.
23 mins: New Zealand are happy to play territory with the wind at their backs, kicking long whenever there’s a sniff of Australia establishing territory. After kicking away possession to halfway Australia win the lineout ball and earn a penalty advantage at the ruck. The Wallabies spread to the right and Lolesio and Kellaway link well to engineer half a yard. The latter’s kick is perfectly weighted and forces the ABs into a line drop-out.
PENALTY! New Zealand 6-0 Australia (Mo'unga 22)
New Zealand move six points ahead with a penalty 20 metres out dead in front. Hopefully the game improves soon.
21 mins: Perfect attacking platform for the All Blacks. Smith takes the scrum and heads to McKenzie on his right shoulder. There’s no penetration though, nor is there for another couple of shaky phases, but play is recalled for a scrum penalty.
19 mins: Oh my. New Zealand play safety first with the restart and belt the ball miles downfield, with the wind. Poor Banks is underneath it, but the ball misses his hands, cannons into his face, and is called a knock-on. Scrum to the All Blacks on the 22. Horror moment for Banks.
PENALTY! New Zealand 3-0 Australia (Mo'unga 18)
With the strong wind behind, Mo’unga requires Reece to lie alongside the ball and keep it upright. Old school. The result is a kick that travels fully 60m and straight through the uprights.
17 mins: Penalty to New Zealand this time, against the scrum feed, and the All Blacks are going for goal from a long long way out.
16 mins: Australia clear to halfway and soon afterwards the All Blacks throw an unnecessary forward pass. This game has yet to get going. The conditions and ring rust are playing havoc.
14 mins: Solid lineout and maul from the All Blacks. The crowd get involved until Smith peels off the back and gets within 10m. A move begins to swell but Mo’unga is hammered by Paisami - his second big hit of the match - and the ball touches grass.
12 mins: Australia’s first scrum feed is quickly called as a penalty in their favour. The kick downfield is honoured by the first sharp lineout ball of the night. The gold forwards get to work with multiple phases just inside New Zealand’s half. The defence is superb though, forcing Australia backwards, until a clear obstruction coughs up possession. The kick from New Zealand goes miles inside the 22 for their first attacking platform of the night.
10 mins: Another even scrum, and this time the All Blacks do go through hands - from left to right - but as soon as they get to the wing they run out of room and a couple of gold tacklers drag Reece into touch. Australia can’t capitalise though as yet another lineout goes astray. That is becoming a serious worry now for Brandon Paenga-Amosa. New Zealand can’t take advantage. A couple of scrappy phases in midfield are rendered pointless when Savea become the latest All Black to fumble possession in the wind.
7 mins: The second scrum of the night requires resetting. Once it’s packed it’s even again and the All Blacks run off the back. They’re desperate to go wide but the Wallabies are up fast and Paisami nails his tackle, forcing a knock-on from Havili. This has been a sloppy start to the contest. And it only gets worse with Australia penalised for a wonky lineout that looked straight enough, only to be caught by the wind.
5 mins: First clean lineout throw from Australia but McDermott spills the routine feed... Scrum to NZ.
5 mins: The first scrum is firm and even and it results in Mo’unga kicking long downfield. Banks responds with a slaloming run into traffic on halfway. The ball gets recycled infield and Retallick is penalised for a breakdown infringement.
3 mins: Another scrappy lineout, this one the consequence of Whitelock monstering the contest at the back, forcing contested ball, and resulting in the scrum feed New Zealand’s way. Early opportunity missed for the Wallabies.
2 mins: New Zealand secure the kick-off safely and accept a couple of tackles before Smith clears to halfway. Australia’s first lineout was a bit scrappy but the All Blacks infringe and the 45m penalty option is eschewed for a kick to the corner.
Kick-off!
Can the Wallabies compete at fortress Eden Park?
Stop. Haka time.
Aaron Smith is leading the way. Michael Hooper stands impassive with the look of a landowner surveying his farthest acres.
Anthem time. Australia’s is workmanlike. New Zealand’s is spine-tingling; a cappella, with the 50,000 inside Eden Park forming a welling chorus that ends with a huge roar. Lovely stuff.
The All Blacks are going full flex, steaming up the race, bare-armed, to the delighted of Eden Park. All eyes on Aaron Smith on his 100th.
Out march the Wallabies, striding past the handsome Bledisloe Cup on the way. Australia are wearing their training tops over their jerseys, and you can see the hoods billowing in the wind.
If tonight’s clash isn’t enough, there’s the small matter of the conclusion of the Lions tour of South Africa. It has been far from a blockbuster series, as Robert Kitson reports.
Even if the rugby so far had been slightly more scintillating, the collateral damage would still have been significant. No sea of red, no socialising, no township coaching visits, no decent provincial opposition, no real festival vibe. Hands up if you have been watching the Olympics or the Euros or Wimbledon or the cricket instead? Or if you cannot quite understand why the Lions are still bashing away with the Premier League football season due to start next week? Let’s just say you are not alone.
Another late late change for the All Blacks!
🚨 UPDATE | Dane Coles has withdrawn from the match due to a calf injury. Samisoni Taukei'aho has replaced him on the bench. #BledisloeCup #NZLvAUS pic.twitter.com/31ly5aXShj
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) August 7, 2021
Updated
The All Blacks just get things right, don’t they? This is a perfect, simple, tribute to Aaron Smith on his 100th cap.
You’re a legend @Te_Nug pic.twitter.com/wnbvpbgElj
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) August 7, 2021
Rugby had its moments in the spotlight at Tokyo 2020 with the Fijian men and New Zealand women capturing hearts as well as gold medals. Eva Corlett has more on Kiwi breakout star Ruby Tui.
Away from this contest, but very relevant to it, Michael Aylwin has the latest challenging data on head injuries in the sport.
It is not the concussions. They do play a part, as the outward manifestation of a distressed brain, but the damage to those brains is constant in a sport like rugby and correlates to the sheer number of blows each brain takes, directly or indirectly, over a prolonged period. “You cannot interpret it any other way,” says Professor Damian Bailey, lead author of the USW study. “You’ve got this noxious, cumulative, recurrent contact that doesn’t actually need to be anywhere near the head, so long as there’s some sort of torsional movement imparted to the brain. And it just builds up over time.” Bailey is the director of the neurovascular research laboratory at USW and works, among other projects, with the European Space Agency on blood flow to the brain of astronauts. He was also a handy scrum-half in his time.
Former All Black Sonny Bill Williams is attempting one heck of a metaphor to describe Wallaby prop Taniela Tupou on Australian TV coverage. Not only is he a bull off the bench, he is also a matador, apparently. Allana Ferguson (who I think is excellent) did a splendid job holding the segment together.
It is a blustery old night in Auckland, which will make it fun for the guys sitting under high balls. There’s also been some rain around, although it should be dry during the 80 minutes. “Conditions aren’t too favourable. We’ll adjust accordingly,” says Hooper.
“We’re developing, we’re growing as a team, we’re just keen to get out there,” says Wallaby skipper Michael Hooper. Tonight he overtakes John Eales for the number of caps as Australian captain (56). He should overtake George Gregan (59) before the end of the Rugby Championship.
Gregor Paul has a book out on the wit and wisdom of former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen. Here’s an excerpt on how the World Cup winner dealt with his Australian opposite numbers.
Hansen, throughout his tenure, had used the media to niggle the various Australian coaches he’d encountered. He made his famous “loaded gun” remark about Robbie Deans. In 2013 and 2014 he frequently baited Deans’ replacement Ewen McKenzie – accurately predicting what selections he would make, then offering him some advice about why they were maybe not the right ones. These sorts of remarks were not off the cuff. Hansen was entirely strategic in the way he occasionally baited a rival coach.
Bret Harris sets the scene:
Dave Rennie does not appear to be the kind of coach to re-invent the wheel. Instead, the Wallabies are likely to try to build on what they did well against France and address the weaknesses in their game.
All Blacks XV
The All Blacks were forced into a game-day change with Scott Barrett falling ill, reducing the number of Barretts on the bench to just two. That’s right, Beauden Barrett is on the interchange - imagine that!?
It’s a seriously strong side on paper. The second row promises to be fiercely contested with the quality pairing of Brodie Retallick and captain Sam Whitelock reunited. While in the backs Aaron Smith brings up his century of caps.
Props Joe Moody and Ofa Tuungafasi weren’t considered for selection as they return from injuries, now was Will Jordan.
📢 GAME-DAY 23 UPDATE | Scott Barrett has been feeling unwell and as a result been withdrawn from tonight’s Bledisloe Cup Test presented by Steinlager. He has been replaced on the bench by Patrick Tuipulotu 🤙#BledisloeCup pic.twitter.com/FOwIneKAoo
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) August 7, 2021
Wallabies XV
Injury and suspension have forced Rennie into four changes from the XV that outlasted France last time out. Jordan Petaia and Andrew Kellaway will form the latest wing pairing, replacing the suspended Koroibete and injured Filipo Daugunu. And in the back row, Rob Valetini and Harry Wilson come in for Naisarani (suspended) and Lachie Swinton (injured).
Crucially, the tight five is unchanged, as is the halves pairing. A lot of focus will be on centres Hunter Paisami and Len Ikitau, with a lack of cohesion and poor decision making in that area becoming a persistent concern.
🤜👊 Let's go!!!
— Wallabies (@wallabies) August 7, 2021
🗓 TONIGHT 5:05pm AEST
📺 @9Gem & @StanSportAU #NZLvAUS #Wallabies #BledisloeCup @eToroAU @CadburyAU pic.twitter.com/XNBIaAMk1w
Preamble
Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of the All Blacks v the Wallabies from Eden Park. The first match in the Bledisloe Cup series kicks-off at 7.05pm local time (5.05pm AEST).
“As a group we couldn’t be more excited about the challenge of taking on New Zealand at Eden Park, a place they’re expected to win whenever they play there,” Wallabies coach Dave Rennie said during the week. What else can you say? Australia haven’t won at the Auckland fortress since 1986, and they haven’t won a competitive fixture against New Zealand on that side of the Tasman since 2001 in Dunedin. Challenges in sport don’t get much tougher.
But the Wallabies still found a way to increase the degree of difficulty when a trio of tourists continued drinking past curfew. “It’s not so much [about being] intoxicated, it was the fact that they continued drinking well beyond the time that was listed,” Rennie said. “Basically, we’d finished downstairs and the expectation was to call it a night. These three boys went upstairs and carried on [drinking]. It was certainly more than two hours past [curfew].”
As a result, destructive winger Marika Koroibete will not feature tonight, nor will impressive No 8 Isi Naisarani, or prop Pone Fa’amausili. However, the last time a Koroibete indiscretion robbed him of time in a gold jersey the Wallabies raised their game, coming from behind with 14 men to defeat France. That was their last outing, completing a 2-1 series victory over the second-string French in what was a nip-and-tuck affair throughout.
What the series revealed was that Australia’s forward pack is in decent order. Set pieces were solid, especially the scrum, but breakdown penalties need to be reined in. There are problems in the backline though with issues with personnel, combinations, and decision making all coming to the fore. Rennie has spun the magnets on his selection board again tonight in the hope of finding the right mixture.
Despite all that, the All Blacks, and coach Ian Foster, are the side under pressure tonight. Foster has underwhelmed since his appointment in 2020 and he could do with some momentum heading into the Rugby Championship.
New Zealand failed to fire this time last year when Australia had the better of a 16-16 draw in Wellington, then later in the Tri-Nations they fell to defeat at the hands of both the Wallabies and the Pumas in succession. This season so far has seen them ease past Tonga and Fiji, but the standard will raise a level in Bledisloe I.
“We’ve got a squad that has worked really hard. The strength of the squad at the moment is they are working for each other and I think we’ve developed some good options, and good depth through July,” Foster said.
