All Blacks overcome shaky start to win Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup

The All Blacks retained the Bledisloe Cup and the 2007 Tri-Nations title after a 26-12 win over the Wallabies in Auckland. While New Zealand were patchy initially, they shifted up a gear after the break putting in a dominant second half.

The match got under way in wet conditions as the rain set in just before kick off. This made both footing and handling difficult and both sides started tentatively.

The early exchanges took place in the centre of the field as neither team were able to gain a territorial advantage. The scoring was finally opened when All Black Dan Carter slotted his first penalty attempt.

The stalemate continued as both sides enjoyed long periods of possession but were unable to get themselves within striking range and never looked like scoring a try.

The Wallabies got on the board via a Stirling Mortlock penalty goal in the 23rd minutes and then took the lead three minutes later when Matt Giteau landed a long range drop goal.

The All Blacks looked to have the dominant scrum once again but their line-out fell to pieces, losing three off their own throw and failing to claim any off the Australian’s throws. Jumpers failed to claim to ball cleanly and twice hooker Anton Oliver missed his target.

Carter levelled the scores in the 29th minute with another penalty goal. The lead was short lived as Mortlock would put his side ahead with a penalty goal in the 33rd minute.

After drawing level thanks to another Carter penalty, stand-in Wallaby fullback Adam Ashley-Cooper showed his inexperience by first attempting to trap a ball with his foot rather than catch it and allowing the ball to bounce into touch, then threw the ball away conceding a penalty. Carter made no mistake with his fourth shot at goal and the All Blacks went into the break with a 12-9 lead.

The second half saw improved conditions as the rain stopped, which allowed the players more freedom to run with the ball but the game continued to be trench warfare amongst the forwards. The All Blacks had the better of the exchanges at the start of the second half winning two penalties, the second of which was kicked by Carter to extend their half time lead.

Over the next ten minutes both teams exchanged penalty goals, but the tide was beginning to turn in the All Blacks’ favour. In the 55th minute replacement half back Brendan Leonard intercepted a pass and put the New Zealanders hot on attack which ended when replacement hooker Keven Mealamu crashed over the line but was unable to ground the ball.

From the ensuing scrum the All Black forwards continued to pound away on the Wallabies’ goal line and eventually the first try of the game went to prop Tony Woodcock who drove over in the right hand corner. This was Woodcock’s second test try, the first coming against the Wallabies in Melbourne.

Another Carter penalty had the All Blacks up by 26-12 and in total control of the game. New Zealand created a number of opportunities late in the second half but were unable to score any further points. The Wallabies were finally able to put together an attacking raid late in the game after being dominated for most of the second half but had it snuffed out by committed defence and a timely steal by Carter.

The All Black line out improved greatly in the second half after the introduction of Mealamu, while their scrum was totally dominant through out the match. Like much of the team, the mid field defence was shaky early on, allowing Mortlock to make several breaks before tightening up in the second half.

It is said that defence is what will win the World Cup this year in France, and the All Blacks’ defence must be considered second to none after holding their opponents tryless for the last 160 minutes of rugby.

The Wallabies will be left wondering how they can compete with the All Black forward pack. They came off second best in Melbourne and were only saved by their brilliant backs, in Auckland they were beaten convincingly in every position. The Australian backs played well in the first half, but as their forwards began to lose the battle up front their quality ball dried up, as did their chances.

While this victory was by no means a perfect game, it does serve as a warning to the rest of the rugby world that the All Blacks are coming into form at just the right part of the season.

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The All Blacks overcome shaky start to win Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup by Hamish McBrearty, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.