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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/
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Was the wait worth it - Ya betta baby 
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