Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane played host to the third and final Bledisloe Cup match of 2013. Having won both of their matches during the Rugby Championship, today’s result couldn’t affect the destination of the cup, but this match looked anything but a dead rubber. In a game full of big hits, handling errors and the odd bit of unbelievable skill, the Wallabies outscored the All Blacks 3 tries to 2 on their way to a 23-18 victory that many will feel a fitting send off to the retiring Stephen Moore and coach Mario Ledesma, who is off to take the reins of the Jaguares Super Rugby side.
Room for improvement
The rain in the buildup certainly won’t have helped matters, but this was an error-strewn display from both teams.
Australia saw a number of attacks ended though handling errors. Some were due to the ball being dislodged in contact, like when Ofa Tu’ungafasi obliterated Bernard Foley, but there were also a number of passes that either didn’t go to hand or were simply dropped. On top of this, Tevita Kuridrani allowed himself to be stripped by Sonny Bill Williams in his own 22 – which eventually resulted in 3 points for New Zealand. Foley (who had missed a couple of kicks at goal before giving the tee to Reece Hodge) kicked out on the full from inside his 22 despite Wayne Barnes calling that the ball had been taken in due to TJ Perenara’s box kick being touched in flight – which resulted in Rieko Ioane scoring a try in the corner. It’s very difficult to beat the All Blacks even when playing at your best, so when Ioane scored I genuinely thought all these errors were going to cost the Wallabies.
New Zealand, however, were far from perfect in this match. This was by no means the strongest All Blacks lineup – Ben Smith, Beauden Barrett, Brodie Retallick, Joe Moody, Jerome Kaino, Israel Dagg and Nehe Milner-Skudder were all missing – but it still looked strong enough to win the game. However like Australia they made too many handling errors which, combined with an impressive Australian defence stopped them getting into their usual attacking flow with any regularity. Ioane was limited to just 2 runs of any note and besides the tries, the only other chance that stuck in my mind was a chip ahead from TJ Perenara – who upped the tempo after his introduction – after a quick-tap penalty. When Sam Cane knocked on at the back of a ruck as they went in search of a game-tying try in referee’s time, it was the kind of ending that summed up the day for New Zealand. Despite an early intercepted pass for Reece Hodge’s try, Lima Sopoaga had a decent game and I feel he deserves another chance in better conditions to prove he is an able backup for Barrett.
Stupid and costly
By far the biggest killer for New Zealand were the penalties that if I’m being kind can be described as brain-dead. Cane may have inherited Richie McCaw’s number 7 shirt but apparently not his cloak of invisibility, as he was rightly pinged by Wayne Barnes for cleaning out a man who was off to the side of a ruck as the All Blacks were mounting an attack. Incredibly this wasn’t even the most moronic penalty of the night, as Tu’ungafasi obstructed the Australian kick chase as New Zealand began a counterattack that was not going to be affected by the impeded Australian. Not only did this deny the All Blacks an attacking opportunity with the score at 20-18, but this penalty was put through the posts by Hodge’s monster right boot, leaving them needing a try to draw rather than a penalty/drop goal to win.
I have said it so many times when writing about the Lions Tour and other matches, but good discipline is vital when playing against top teams. If they continue to give away penalties like this, the All Blacks will suddenly become that bit more beatable.
Culture shock
I know a lot of people aren’t fans of seeing cultural shows like the haka at sports events, but personally, I love it! As well as the expected Kapo o Pango haka from the All Blacks, the Wallabies were also showing some of their culture by celebrating the role of Indigenous Australians in rugby. The new Indigenous kit looked beautiful and with the Wallabies having a 100% record in it I’m sure it will make a return, but it was also really good to see the Welcome to Country before the national anthems.
So often we moan that rugby is becoming like all other professional sports, so I would love to see more teams and unions embracing their national history and culture as part of the matchday experience.
Eyes on the Ball 