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The All Blacks suffered a huge psychological blow ahead of the World Cup when they lost 20-15 to the Wallabies in Melbourne.
It is New Zealand’s first defeat since Rustenburg last year and the first time they have surrendered a half-time lead in 56 Tests. No doubt comparisons will be made to 1999 when the Wallabies shocked the seemingly unbeatable All Blacks 28-7 in Sydney, sowing the first seeds of doubt ahead of the World Cup.
The All Blacks of 2007 appeared to have clinched the Bledisloe Cup, and probably the Tri-Nations, when they led 15-9 going into the final quarter, only for SA referee Marius Jonker to send Carl Hayman to the sin bin for a professional foul. Soon after, an eight-phase Wallaby attack was finished off when Nathan Sharpe’s skip pass found Adam Ashley-Cooper, who broke through two tackles to score in the corner.
As the pressure mounted so the cracks in the All Black armour began to show. Dan Carter missed a relatively simple penalty attempt at goal and minutes later Aaron Mauger booted a kick directly into touch. The Wallabies won the resultant line-out, Stirling Mortlock broke the line and passed inside to replacement Scott Staniforth who scored the match-winner under the posts.
Several top All Blacks failed to deliver when the occasion demanded it. Carter has been horribly out of form since returning from the All Black conditioning programme and he put kicks directly into touch, botched a certain try when the All Blacks had a five-on-two overlap and missed that crucial penalty at the end. Jerry Collins and Richie McCaw also failed to live up to their reputations, while Rodney So’oialo’s tendency to self destruct was illustrated again when he knocked on with Carter in the clear on his outside, just before half-time.
In contrast, Australia’s big-name players all came to the party. Stephen Larkham produced his best display of the season, with his first-half grubber almost producing a try for Mortlock. The flyhalf was well supported by his skipper, who made two telling linebreaks in the second half after Australia had failed to make any in the first.
The scrums provided an even contest, but there was some confusion around some of the referee’s decisions. With the All Blacks leading 10-6, Jonker penalised loosehead Matt Dunning for collapsing a Wallaby scrum inside the All Black 22. A minute later, he nailed tighthead Guy Shepherdson for a slow engagement, again on Australia’s put-in but this time on their 22. That gave the All Blacks a bonus attacking scrum from which Luke McAlister broke through George Gregan’s tackle and sent Rico Gear away for his side’s second try.
At that stage, the All Blacks appeared to have wrapped up the game with the Wallabies unable to break down their defensive lines. As a result, coach Graham Henry emptied almost his entire bench soon after half-time, a decision he must now regret.
http://www.keo.co.za/2007/06/30/wall...blacks-0-1200/
Dear Lord, if you give us back Johnny Cash, we'll give you Justin Bieber.
3 Force players, and all of them instrumental in the Wallabies win! Go the![]()
Dear Lord, if you give us back Johnny Cash, we'll give you Justin Bieber.
LOL i tipped wallabies by 5!!!!!
i still cant beleive it what a game, i think gits and 9 brought alot of flare to the backline and got it to the backs quick when NZ were under pressure which put the all blacks on the back foot. great decision by connely
well done wallabies
What a result - what could this team do with more Western Force Players - although its the frist time I've ever enjoyed watching AAC playing - but Sharpie helped set him up - Stanners try was fantastic - good to see him cement his position in the team - as for Gitts 2 out of precious 2 - even Sheps would have found that frist conversion difficult - What a result well deserved - and from the heart
Fox Sports coverage just ended with a shot of a wink from Georgie Gregan - think that just sums up the evening - yep the Wallabies are back in the frame and loving it.
Last edited by Thequeerone; 30-06-07 at 21:00.
61 years between Grand SlamsWas the wait worth it - Ya betta baby
Well done to JC and all the guys.........
I particularily liked the New Zealand formation dance troop.
Although number 14 seemed to be out of synch.
I think they could win the Dance World Cup, but they'll have to be wary of the English Morris dancers who have a mean tinkling bell and a deceptive hanky wave!
What a great victory! Will history repeat itself?
Last edited by no.8; 30-06-07 at 21:13. Reason: Automerged Doublepost
Brother Gallagher I hear you
Hang on. before you lot start performing like a German band, think back what it was like with 15-20 minutes to go. The Wallabies were gone for all money as any one who knows anything about rugby would tell you. Luck played a good part in their comeback, and lets be grateful.
Let's not start behaving like the Kiwis I was with for the first 60 or so minutes- totally insufferable.
We won, they lost, and we are looking like a remote possibility for the World Cup.
That's all.The AllBlacks are still on form favorites.
Still a bit stroppy about the loss to Kalamunda today eh, Fulvio? There was as much bad luck in the first 1/4 which stopped us grabbing points as in the last to get them. At the end of the night the Wallabies beat the All Blacks fair and square against the odds, only about the 5th time a team had done this in over 40 matches. Let us bask....
Dear Lord, if you give us back Johnny Cash, we'll give you Justin Bieber.
Im basking with a damn fine red. Its been a bloody long time!
the punters friend..... stick with me and you will be wearing
Woohoo...
Gratz to the boys...
I am downloading the torrent from diwana right now...
I will post more comments when I have watched the match
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Right... just finished watching the match. First of all, good effort by the boys (all of them).
There were a lot of scruffy moments with the scrums and lineouts, but we seemed to hold our own against them.
Our backs were fantastic. A couple of handling errors as usual but they were balanced out by the crap play from the kiwi backs.
A good performance from the force boys will have Mitchell happy and wondering why there arent more from our squad in there.
Not the best win in the world, but it was against the kiwi's and we'll take it
Last edited by Dramoth; 01-07-07 at 05:50.
Let the force go in 2009
Bloody awesome!!!
"Remember lads, rugby is a team game; all 14 of you make sure you pass the ball to ..........."
Brilliant. I don't think I've seen such a welcome sight in many a long year as Spanner diving over under the posts to score the clincher. Would have been happy whoever it was but that was just fantastic icing for the cake.
Youre right Fulvio. But after the past few seasons we are entitled to get a bit carried away. The Blacks are still the mountain to climb. But the boys have definately made base camp.
Fantastic! Once again a win from the heart. Great spirit shown by the boys. If they continue to gel like that then anything is possible. Hate to say it but AAC has redeemed himself somewhat, I hope he can keep it up. Dunning also played his part and kept up his good work. My only critism is that we were caught napping in attack as well as defence on a few occasions and that is unforgiveable at this level. The rest is progressing nicely I would suggest.
Just happy to be here
Missed you atTEF.....
CHEERLEADERS ROCK!!!
Dear Lord, if you give us back Johnny Cash, we'll give you Justin Bieber.