This game in summary
The Wallabies were brave, the All Blacks were a little down but still far too good. Australia had 817 run metres to 583, and laid 86 tackles while forcing New Zealand into 183, plus also dominated possession for large periods of the game, but they lacked the finesse and finishing touch to get the job done.
The disallowed try that would have made it 15-15 set them back, but they weren’t beaten by the ref. Their formidable opponent simply crushed them in the final 20 minutes.
With this win, New Zealand have 18 straight Test wins, a new world record, and the Wallabies are still to break through for an Eden Park Test win since their last in 1986. That’s some hoodoo, but this is a helluva rugby team. There’s daylight between them and the Wallabies right now. Thanks for joining us, and stay tuned for Paul Rees’ report of all the action from tonight’s game. Adios!
FT: That's it! The #AllBlacks have made it 18 consecutive Test victories - the most by a tier one nation in rugby history.#NZLvAUS #AmexNZ pic.twitter.com/FnrY8OJNbi
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) October 22, 2016
Full-time! New Zealand win 37-10 as Australia run out of legs
And with that, the All Blacks take their world record 18th straight win in what ended up a six tries to one drubbing, a scoreline that doesn’t reflect Australia’s guts and tenacity for a large part of that encounter. But...the Wallabies just weren’t good enough. No excuses. They lacked that little bit of polish and class, and fumbled around when chances presented themselves. Gallant, just not quite good enough.
79 min: This game is just meandering to its conclusion now but in the interests of Trans-Tasman bitterness, the local fans are still doing a great job of booing Cooper and Israel Dagg soon scoots through for his second try after a pass from Cruden. But...it’s a forward pass. Dagg wastes an enthusiastic celebration of the feat, too.
78 min: Oh dear, it’s getting worse for the Wallabies now as Reece Hodge is flattened in a big tackle. That might just about finish him off for the night, you’d think.
76 min: It hasn’t been Australia’s night, it’s safe to say. They go forward again and create a big opening but Reece Hodge fumbles from a leg tackle when he’s eight metres out and another promising move peters out with a frustrating error.
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74 min: After 15 points in 14 minutes, Aaron Cruden proves that the All Blacks are indeed human when he misses the conversion. Quade Cooper then appears for his heel turn and he’s welcomed onto the field with a quite predictable round of boos.
New Zealand try! New Zealand 37-10 Australia (Coles 72)
72 min: This game is getting a little ragged now as the Aussies flag in their spirits and the All Blacks throw the ball around with no small amount of flair. They’ve got their foot to the floor and the Wallabies are a little helpless to stop it. Savea goes within half a metre of a hat-trick but turns in the tackle to put Dane Coles through instead! Coles deserved that as it was his big tackle on Dean Mumm that caused the turnover in the first place.
New Zealand conversion! New Zealand 32-10 Australia
70 min: No mistake from point blank range and you sense this could get a little ugly from here.
New Zealand try! New Zealand 30-10 Australia (Savea 68)
67 min: Foley is still trying to find gaps but he’s monstered in a few big tackles. But...they Aussies produce an overlap and swiftly move to 22m before things break down and the All Blacks force a turnover, working it wide to Savea, who just pulverises a couple of would-be tacklers on his way to a second try. That was brutal. It’s all falling apart for Australia. That’s Savea’s 45th All Blacks try and his ninth double.
New Zealand penalty goal! New Zealand 25-10 Australia (Cruden 64)
64 min: This game was alive 10 minutes back but an Aaron Cruden penalty goal here makes things difficult for the Wallabies. They’ve been gallant, but lacked polish.
62 min: Reader Ken McMahon writes in from Switzerland and agrees that some of the All Blacks could slap a smile on their dials. “No doubt I am not the only one to think it: you’d think slick ball movement would make him smile more...or is that the preserve of Aaron Smith” he asks. Both sides are ringing the changes now (Perenara off, Kerr-Barlow on for the ABs) but this All Blacks buffer suddenly looks a healthy one.
60 min: Australia are even winning lineouts tonight, as per one here 22m out. Foley gets it out to Folau and the Wallabies look like they’re on but the giant Aussie couldn’t quite release the pass when a host of options presented themselves. Australia have another one-man overlap on phase five but Reece Hodge has the same problem as Folau. A little slicker with their passing and Australia could be leading right now. So often they’ve released pressure right when they looked to have some ascendancy.
58 min: David Pocock is on for the Wallabies and forces a turnover straight away. He’ll be one to watch in the closing 20 minutes. There’ll be plenty of pressure on the home side with him out there.
New Zealand conversion! New Zealand 22-10
55 min: No mistake with the conversion and suddenly New Zealand have a 12-point lead and the Wallabies just 25 minutes to make something of their spirited showing tonight.
New Zealand try! New Zealand 20-10 Australia (Savea 55)
53 min: Australia has had 68% of possession now and the Kiwis look like they’re out on their feet, but from nowhere there’s a turnover and then no stopping Savea as he streaks clear for the try.
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52 min: Bernard Foley steps up for the 21m penalty kick, which could bring Australia back within a few points, and he hits the left upright with a thump, causing Michael Cheika to pinch ad the bridge of his nose like he’s just lost his house in a Ponzi scheme.
50 min: just another incident out of that near-try: the big tackle on Rory Arnold has crocked the towering Australian and he limps off, grimacing noticeably. Israel Folau takes the Wallabies to 15m out and they’re on the charge again, as Simmons slips through to take them inside 10, where the All Blacks are offside. Matt Burke reckons the home side is “rattled”, but I might reserve judgement for another 20 minutes or so.
47 min: Well, how will that call change the complexion of the game? The Wallabies need to get on with the job but that decision will have irked them. Replays indicated the try would be allowed but New Zealand got the rub of the green. And now...has Dane Coles scored a loose ball try after he kicked it clear for New Zealand from a Rory Arnold turnover? We see it from more angles than the Kennedy assassination but no try is the ruling! That seems almost karmic.
Try reversed! New Zealand 15-10 Australia
45 min: There’s a review of the try now. Was Ardie Savea blocked from getting near Speight in his pursuit of the try-scorer? Yes in the eyes of the refs! Oh dear. The Australians are fuming. Would he have laid a finger on Speight either way? He wasn’t within a bull’s roar of the Aussie! Michael Cheika has steam coming out his ears up in the box.
Australia Try! New Zealand 15-15 Australia (Speight 45)
45 min: Whisper it, but the Wallabies are a serious chance here and with a few neat passes and a couple of enticing gaps opening up, Henry Speight sprints down the wing with the wind in his sails and streaks clear for a try!
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45 min: Hodge is hammered into the turf in a brutal tackle by Kieran Read and moments later the All Blacks are sweeping forward with menacing intent. The All Blacks make a change with Beauden Barrett coming off and Aaron Cruden coming on. Say what? That’s a very interesting move with 35 minutes still to play.
Australia Penalty goal! New Zealand 15-10 Australia (Foley 43)
43 min: Foley can hardly miss this one and duly drills it through from point blank range to bring the Australians within a single try.
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42 min: We’re off and away in the second half with a very short Beauden Barrett kick, which is followed by a mad scramble but the Wallabies retain possession eventually. Reece Hodge has another nice moment when he steals possession and offloads to Kepu, who charges to 10 metres out and the Wallabies soon win a shot at goal. It’s a very bright start for Australia.
A tip for NZ Rugby
The social media team really need to get smilier photos of their players for when they score tries. What’s wrong, Anton?
TRY! Slick ball movement from the #NZL & @AntonLB95 bolts in for the #AllBlacks 2nd try of the night. 10-0 to #NZL. #NZLvAUS #AmexNZ pic.twitter.com/HXrHFBmRHc
— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) October 22, 2016
Half-time: New Zealand 15-7 Australia at Eden Park
40 min: New Zealand have had to make 67 tackles so far and the visitors are really forcing them to earn their keep tonight. Not only that, but they have a half chance for another try as the hooter approaches. They go forward, there’s a string of passes....and then a turnover. And that’s it. An absorbing first half comes to its conclusion and New Zealand take the honours, but only just. “We’re playing in the right areas of the field,” says Wallaby Bernard Foley. “We’ve just gotta be resilient and stick at it... If we stay at it we’ll get the reward.
38 min: New Zealand handle a five-man lineout with ease and then spread it wide but there’s a big tackle from Reece Hodge on Ryan Crotty. Ouch, you could hear his bones rattling from across the ditch.
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36 min: Again Barrett misses the conversion and it’s safe to say it’s not the greatest night for kicking. Australia have been gallant in this opening half but giving away cheap tries like that has really killed their momentum.
New Zealand try! New Zealand 15-7 (Perenara 34)
34 min: A charge-down! Oh dear. That’s a horror moment for Hodge as TJ Perenara smothers it beautifully and helps himself to a free try.
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32 min: Oof, there’s a big intercept here from Israel Folau but the ref calls it offside, much to the chagrin of the giant Australian. But for a knock-on, the All Blacks were on for a third try soon after. There was a finger-tip in it.
30 min: Reece Hodge has a 50m kick now, and with that stiff breeze in the back of his mind, pulls it right. Still, the Wallabies are in this game after 30 minutes, which you would not have tipped during their shambolid first 10.
Australian conversion! New Zealand 10-7 Australia (Foley)
28 min: Foley makes no mistake with the conversion and there’s a penalty to boot, against Kieran Read, opening up the chance of a 10-point try.
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Australian try! New Zealand 10-5 Australia (Arnold 28)
28 min: Some action! Bernard Foley slips a tackle and gains a few metres and Phipps also has a bright moment, but it’s pretty sloppy work by the Wallabies as they meander their way forward but out of nowhere ‘Three storey’ Rory Arnold slips free with an ungainly try, which has come completely against the run of play! Put that one down to Bernard Foley, folks.
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26 min: As Matt Burke tries to think up new and ever more polite ways of describing Australia’s woeful scrum, and eventually settles on a theory that it “sucks the oxygen out of your legs” when you’re down there. I’m heading for an anatomy and physiology text book to verify that claim. I’ll let you know what I find. The crowd is so bored right now they’ve registered their disgust with a Mexican wave.
23 min: Michael Collins arrives with our first email of the night: “I’m no expert in gate technology but isn’t a rusty gate actually going to swing open with some difficulty? (It’s early; I’m tired; and the cricket’s going badly. So I’m grumpy).” Hmm, you could be right there, Michael. Does Australia doing very badly in rugby balance out England doing very badly in cricket? That seems about right to me.
22 min: This has been a half-decent five minutes for the Wallabies, but they’ve got nothing to show for it yet, and they’re penalised for not releasing when they spread it wide. Tackles? 43-13 in favour of New Zealand.
21 min: Kepu has his first decent run of the night for the Aussies and Foley creates a nice opening. Sio charges forward towards the try line but a lack of composure costs the Wallabies as Kerevi eftly avoids three tacklers but then fires off a slightly shambolic pass, which goes forward into the hands of the All Blacks. One step forward, two steps back.
19 min: Dean Mumm does a power of work to force a turnover and a scrum for his side out of an All Blacks lineout, bear-hugging a New Zealand opponent and the ball at the base of the pack. New Zealand waste their dominance of the scrum and Foley goes for touch in the aftermath. I think you know what happens next: the ABs pick the lineout like a dirty nose.
17 min: Michael Hooper’s almost through for the Wallabies but his torso gets a little too far out in front of his legs as he streams forward and his face receives some panel-beating at the hands of the oncoming turf. There’s only brief moments of ascendancy for Australia. “It’s almost a hatred between the players at the moment,” says Gordon Bray, and the ref calls both teams in for a bollocking.
16 min: Chaos! The Aussies make a hash of the possession but then so do the All Blacks as well in a helter skelter minute of rugby, when Australia twice look like scoring but eventually squander it. There’s a lot of niggle out there, as you’d expect. It’s lippy, chippy, and the Aussies are under the kosh.
14 min: New Zealand have had 67% of the possession so far, if that wasn’t obvious from the scoreline. Israel Folau continues to charge in and try to make things happen for the Wallabies but they’re up against it as they fumble their way to the 22m line and earn a penalty. Foley uses it to go for touch – about eight metres out. I like it.
12 min: Beauden Barrett has been sublime this season but he’s just missed his second conversion of the night as the swirling breeze continues to wreak havoc on both sides’ kicking game.
New Zealand try! New Zealand 10-0 Australia (Brown 10)
10 min: Australia have already missed seven tackles, compared with New Zealand’s one, as the packs line up for a scrum and Aussie Scott Sio is punished by the ref for not binding. The All Blacks do far better with their second lineup of the night and Lienert-Brown scoots clear for another try in what’s been a shocking start for Australia. Henry Speight almost reeled in an interception there but in missing it he opened the path for an easy try.
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8 min: The All Blacks miss the conversion, so it stays at 5-0 for now, but there’s some early alarm bells here for Michael Cheika. The All Blacks were throwing it around the joint almost arrogantly in the lead-up to the opening try.
New Zealand try! New Zealand 5-0 Australia (Dagg 6)
6 min: Oof, don’t speak too soon. Now the All Blacks are on the charge and if not for a near-intercept from Folau, they were positively marauding. There’s gaps everywhere and Dagg crosses for the first try! Dear oh dear, that was far too easy for the home side. The Aussies swung open like a rusty gate.
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4 min: Bernard Foley has a 37m attempt to the cross bar kicking into the wind and against raucous barracking. Sure enough, the wind carries it left to miss and the home crowd loves that. An early let-off for the All Blacks.
3 min: Folau gets an early touch for the Aussies but they’re soon penalised for not releasing. New Zealand have their first lineout of the night and the Wallabies pinch it! Wouldn’t have expected that so early but soon Henry Speight is charging down the wing and New Zealand are caught offside.
1 min: Referee Nigel Owens is the most capped referee in international rugby now and he has the honour of adjudicating tonight. Australia’s Bernard Foley gets us under way with a high, looping kick-off, which is countered by a handsome Ben Smith punt kick.
Time for the Haka
We all know how that goes by now. The crowd loves it, while the visiting Aussies try to strike that difficult balance between respectfulness and an expression of calm, I’m-not-intimidated-in-the-slightest indifference. Let’s do this.
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First, a moment of cheering for Walter ‘Wally’ Argus
That’s nice. Not a minute of awkward silence but a period of hearty applause for All Black #450, who passed away yesterday. He was 95 and the oldest living New Zealand Test man.
The Wallabies are running out onto Eden Park
And you can hear beer cups drop to the ground, the All Blacks fans are so roused by their presence. “It’s been a nagging, 30-year itch,” is how Gordon Bray terms the visitors’ Eden Park hoodoo. At least I think that’s what he’s referring to. If not it’s something that definitely requires a cream of some sort, maybe some antibiotics.
Our teams tonight
Australia starting team: Scott Sio, Stephen Moore, Sekope Kepu, Rory Arnold, ADam Coleman, Dean Mumm, Michael Hooper, Lopeti Timani, Nick Phipps, Bernard Foley, Henry Speight, Reece Hodge, Samu Kerevi, Dane Haylett-Petty, Israel Folau.
Reserves: James Hanson, Tom Robertson, Allan Alaalatoa, Rob Simmons, David Pocock, Nick Frisby, Quade Cooper, Sefa Naivalu.
New Zealand starting team: Joe Moody, Dane Coles, Owen Franks, Brodie Retallick, Samuel Whitelock, Jerome Kaino, Matt Todd, Kieran Read, TJ Perenara, Beauden Barrett, Julian Savea, Ryan Crotty, Anton Lienert-Brown, Israel Dagg, Ben Smith.
Reserves: Codie Taylor, Wyatt Crockett, Charlie Faumuina, Liam Squire, Ardie Savea, Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Aaron Cruden, Malakai Fekitoa
Welcome back @pocockdavid! #StrongerAsOne #NZLvAUS pic.twitter.com/PbJrSnMpgn
— Qantas Wallabies (@qantaswallabies) October 22, 2016
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The trophy currently being hoisted into the air by the Black Ferns:
Here's what they're playing for! The Laurie O'Reilly Cup up for grabs between the #BlackFerns and @WallaroosRugby.#GrowTheGame pic.twitter.com/P3f2WfQoUt
— Black Ferns (@BlackFerns) October 22, 2016
Also at Eden Park right now
...and in a potentially bad omen for the Wallabies, their counterparts in the Wallaroos have been thumped 67-3 by New Zealand’s women’s team, The Black Ferns. The star for New Zealand was Selica Winiata, who notched up a hat-trick (or a double, in cricket terms, as she ended up with four tries) as her side ran riot.
FULL TIME | The Black Ferns steam away with a great season opening win, smashing the Wallaroos 67-3 #NZLvAUS #GrowTheGame #AmexNZ pic.twitter.com/u414xV55K7
— Black Ferns (@BlackFerns) October 22, 2016
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Preamble
Hello all and welcome to game three of this 2016 Bledisloe Cup: the punishment edition. We’ll start with the obvious. Australia haven’t beaten the All Blacks in New Zealand since 2001, when the Baha Men’s “Who Let the Dogs Out?” was enjoying its three-month run at the top of the charts and each member of The Strokes still had hair.
What hope do the Wallabies have tonight at Eden Park? Well, none. They haven’t won at this venue in three full decades and face a side looking for its 18th win on the bounce. The ABs haven’t lost on home soil since 2009, nor at Eden Park since 1994. It’s been 18 matches since the Wallabies last won at any New Zealand venue. I’d call that a tall task of Robert Wadlow dimensions, wouldn’t you?
The Aussies are sitting on three wins from nine starts this year – hardly imposing – but they’ve at least changed things up for tonight’s game; Quade Cooper heads to the bench, Bernard Foley returns to hatural habitat of flyhalf, while Reece Hodge pairs with Samu Kerevi in the centres. The net result is that Henry Speight gets to return on the wing. David Pocock is also back earlier than expected from a wrist injury (OK, quieten down there at the back of the room) and takes his place on the bench.
New Zealand head into this one with a 57-15 thrashing of the Springboks as preparation. Julian Savea gets the nod in front of Waisake Naholo for the starting side, while Matt Todd is favoured ahead of Ardie Savea for the starting seven spot. Can the Wallabies cause the upset of the year and party like it’s 1986? With a lineout like theirs, probably not, but that shouldn’t stop the rest of us.
Russell will be here shortly. In the meantime, check out what Paul Rees has had to say about this all-conquering New Zealand side. Spoiler alert: he thinks they’re pretty good.
