Wallabies lose their ninth consecutive Test to All Blacks in Christchurch

[travelling_gerry]

Wallabies lose their ninth consecutive Test to All Blacks in Christchurch

August 07, 2010 Australia's pain and suffering has continued with the All Blacks retaining the Bledisloe Cup for an eighth straight year with a record-equalling ninth successive victory over the Wallabies in Christchurch.
The Wallabies delivered a vastly-improved showing on the previous week's debacle in Melbourne, but the All Blacks still had too much power and precision, prevailing 20-10 for their 13th consecutive Test win.

The 10-point triumph also virtually secured New Zealand the Tri Nations trophy, the world's top-ranked team requiring just a lone bonus point from their remaining two away matches against Australia and South Africa to make it a fait accompli.

Clearly stung by the 21-point hammering seven days earlier, the Wallabies threw everything at the All Blacks at AMI Stadium.

Robbie Deans - back in his home city for the first time as coach of the Wallabies - even belted out the Australian national anthem pre-match in a welcome show of solidarity after a week of flak for his beleaguered side.

Alas, the gallant Wallabies were unable to convert long periods of possession and territory into tries, their lone five-pointer coming via a first-half breakout effort from fullback Kurtley Beale.

Still, there was no humiliation this time, with the All Blacks only clinching victory with a 71st-minute penalty goal to superboot Dan Carter.

In perfect playing conditions, a comfortable 12 degrees and with barely a breath of wind, Australia made a bright enough start, hogging possession for the opening five minutes.

But a midfield burst from lock Tom Donnelly put the hosts on the attack and quick recycling allowed Keven Mealamu and Joe Rokocoko to combine to put fullback Mils Muliaina away down the left sideline for the first try after six minutes.

Dan Carter's conversion made it 7-0, but the Wallabies hit straight back with a 65-metre runaway try to Beale.

Carter spilt the ball, Wallabies flanker David Pocock swooped, offloaded to Nathan Sharpe, who delivered a nice inside pass to Beale, who outpaced Carter to score in a handy position for Matt Giteau to convert.

Scores weren't levelled for long, though, with a defensive blunder from makeshift winger James O'Connor allowing All Blacks centre Conrad Smith an easy try in the 13th minute, again in the left corner.

Instead of staying on his wing, O'Connor was caught in two minds as classy inside centre Ma'a Nonu exposed the youngster's inexperience with a lovely long pass to Smith.

Carter again nailed the sideline conversion to give New Zealand a 14-7 lead, before Giteau narrowed the gap to four points with a 20th-minute penalty goal after the All Blacks were caught offside.

The All Blacks went to the break enjoying a 17-10 advantage following a Carter penalty goal in the 33rd minute after Wallabies halfback Will Genia was pinged for not releasing.

Carter's late penalty was the only score of the second half as New Zealand's ninth straight win over Australia matches the All Blacks' streak from 1936 to 1947.

AAP


http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,...016959,00.html

[robyn <3]

My father went as far to suggest R.Deans was planted by NZ rugby to doom the Wallabies - apparently when it gets to 1 out of 10 you have to start asking questions. I prefer Quade's tackling to Faingaa-take-2, hell I even prefer Drew's tackling!

I can only blame so much on the ref, and I really couldn't see all the positives those commentators were blabbing on about at the end. Shocking.

[welshrugbyfan]

My father went as far to suggest R.Deans was planted by NZ rugby to doom the Wallabies - apparently when it gets to 1 out of 10 you have to start asking questions. I prefer Quade's tackling to Faingaa-take-2, hell I even prefer Drew's tackling!

I can only blame so much on the ref, and I really couldn't see all the positives those commentators were blabbing on about at the end. Shocking.

Your dad is a smart man. Deans is a plant in the wallaby camp and the SARU is being paid very well to keep PDV in charge.

They must win the world cup next year at home.

When the blackness win the trophy PDV and Deans will hold up Punk'd signs to their players.

[Burgs]

They'll still choke.

[welshrugbyfan]

They'll still choke.

Probably, especially if the French show up.

[jombi]

Go Deans!

The allblacks have only choked (not including 95 when they literally choked) once and that was in 99.

The allblacks aren't anywhere near peaking - it's just the competition making them look like a super team.

ARU should seriously consider bringing in Eddie Jones as an assistant attacking coach so he can go mental on the numbers like he always does and offer something original for Deans to disect, because he has nothing.

Keep O'Connor at fullback or put him on the bench, put Shepherd on the wing and keep Fai out of the 22 until he learns to not run out of the line, or Habana/Olivier are going to score a lot of tries.

And what was with Sharpe being taken off? He was clearly the best wallaby for his 60~ minutes, if the wallabies had've won I have no doubt he would be MOTM.

[Sheikh]

Jombi, agree about Sharpe. He had a much better game than Mumm, so why bring him off? The Wallabies were starting to panic about scoring and were getting ragged - they needed someone with experience to calm them down - Elsom can't do that and Sharpe was off the pitch.

The interviews were telling: Sharpe interviewed just after he came off was clear, concise and positive; Elsom interviewed after the match was full of cliches.

Also, why wasn't Sheps given a run? Rabbit was wasted out on the wing, so with 15-20 to go, why not give Sheps a go? He scares the ABs in a way that Rabbit doesn't, and if Deans isn't planning on using him, why put him on the bench?

[pieter blackie]

Pocock almost did to much. He tried to make up for every other forward's laziness and tackled so many players in the same phase that I thought he will be carried of at half time. The rest of the team must at least try and do a third of what Pocock does, other wise he will be wasted even before the world cup starts.

Sharpe played well and did more captaincy related things out there than Elsom. Elsom played well but as captain he must realise that speaking and organising his troops is just as important as running with the ball. Sometimes 10 minutes went past without me seeing him saying anything.

And can someone please explain to the Wallabies that trying to run into the All Black defensive line on your own is a big no no. The ball will be turned over every time just ask Will Genia. He experienced it happing first hand but kept doing the same thing over and over, some other players was guilty of this as well. If you want to run like that make sure you have someone on your ass supporting you and who will protect the ball when you get tackled.

Overall I thought that the Wallabies did OK and were in the game right to the end. They definitely played better than the Springboks vs the All Blacks so it will be interesting to see if the Boks can manage to win a game in this year's Tri Nations.

[TOCC]

Beale was the best back
JOC, well defensively two tries were scored down his wing, obviously targetted
AAC, needs variety in attack, didnt off-load or pass once
Faingaa, came out of the line a few times leaving gaps
Giteau, shouldnt be 5/8, he passed to AAC 95% of the time, what about the rest of the backlin?
Genia, provided slow service tonight and some of the passes were poor, burgess should have come on after 50min
Brown, doesnt have a place in this team
Pocock, awsome again
Elsom, went well disrupting the lineouts and was better in the cleanouts, running game was a little lacking
Mumm, not a bad effort, but not a great one
Sharpe, popped up a few times in broken play, needs to provide more as a running option in the tight play though
Maafu, send him back to school
Faingaa, solid lineous and good around the field at the rucks and in defence
Robinson, still obviously lacking in fitness


Moore, should have been used off the bench to give some extra go forward
Slipper, scum was reasonably stable when he was on
Simmons, went well when he came on, plays as a real right forward
Hodgson, went well, he should replace brown in starting side
Burgess, should have been brought on to replace genia
Barnes,
Shep, should have been subbed on to replace JOC at some point

[.X.]

Im going to get yelled at again.

The Wallabies need a new Coach. And while they are at it. Wallabies need a new Captain too.

[Burgs]

It mainly seems to me that Deans doesn't use (have?) a Plan B.
Maybe he never needed one at the Crusaders.
To me I look at a bench as being not just a collection of players that can fit in to required gaps from injury, but if there are no injury subs then 20-21 and even 22 should be a "second unit" who have been training consistently together to drop in at 60-65.
So, if Genia-Cooper start then Burgess-Barnes both come on together if things are going seriously astray. There is usually a five minute ugly adjustment period when a new 9 or 10 comes on and this method can assist to do away with that.
Likewise the reserve Hooker should provide a point of difference in style, that's what made Cannon-Paul and at the Tahs Polota-Nau-Freier such good options. There is no point just bringing on a fresher version of the same strategy if it isn't already working for the first sixty with the better player. Likewise for the #19.
Generally the #18 is a Lock/Backrow cover and they tend to be pretty similar so the theory doesn't really apply there, though leaning towards mobility is usually a good option coming into the end of the match. Likewise for the reserve Prop.
Basically though, in the modern game, the bench is there for a reason, use them!

[Hoolly Doolly]

Im going to get yelled at again.

The Wallabies need a new Coach.. ..

YOU WHATT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[robyn <3]

Your dad is a smart man. Deans is a plant in the wallaby camp and the SARU is being paid very well to keep PDV in charge.

They must win the world cup next year at home.

When the blackness win the trophy PDV and Deans will hold up Punk'd signs to their players.

PDV is smarter than I give him credit for - every time he wants a pay rise he just grabs a reporter and starts gabbling.

I agree Exile. The axe is a-swinging. Something is going very very wrong and it needs to be fixed. I have a sneaking suspicion that it won't be Robbie though. Sigh.

[TOCC]

you cant sack robbie barely 12months out from the RWC,

1, there are no coaches of suitability currently available; and
2, if you do find a suitable replacement, there wont be enough games for him to really establish his game plan

[shasta]

Please settle down people. Would you expect the AB's to be at their best with the same number of first pick players unavailable? I doubt it - and their players have any number of capable replacements keeping match fit in the NPC. I'd much prefer a run of injuries this year than the same time next one. Steady as she goes. Don't believe all the hype about how much improvement there is left in the AB's. They are at peak performance right now. The choke's still on.