NZ v Australia: 3rd Bledisloe Cup match

First topic message reminder :

OK Boys and girls. Games on tomorrow. Australia's in crisis and NZ is coming off a loss to the boks. Time to talk about the last meaningful international before the November series. The big questions?

1. Can Australia get up from the media battering following a poor rugby championship and the Kurtley Beale fallout?
2. Are the All Blacks taking the game seriously enough(should for instance Cruden be starting)?
3. How big a factor with Brisbane and the referee be?

And anything else that stricks your fancy.

Nicely done

Four minutes to defend the try line...

Harem scarem stuff most unlike ABs

I knew it.

Spoke to soon

Slade, how big are your ballss?

Blimey. That's cutting it fine....

Talk about a pressure kick.

NZ. Again...

Oh wow,

If this goes over, I will feel very sorry for Aus - they have been the best team throughout but just capitulated too easily at time,

Its NZ vs Ireland again

FOok me, sorry but we didn't deserve that win. Outplayed for 95% of that game.

tough loss.
entertaining match.

Aus must been gutted, wondering what they have to do to beat the All Blacks

Well played both sides, congratulations to the All Blacks and tough lines Ozy you gave it a great crack.

Dead rubber be damned that was a hell of a match !

Feel for the Wallabies . You just can't give the ABs a sniff , can you ?

But that was close.

They just did to Australia what they did to Ireland in 2013. Unbelievable mental strength from the All Blacks. There was no point in that game where they thought they were going to lose.

Australia were just like us in the end, even though they were the side winning the game in the last five minutes it's them who were panicking and the All Blacks side that was behind of the scoreboard that were completely calm and focused.

What a great performance from Australia... just don't have the same unbreakable mental strength as the All Blacks. If they did they would have seen it out. Another classic test match where the All Blacks bring the best out of their opponents. You have to admire that amazing self-belief. No mistakes made hurt their mentality. Other teams would have broken when Slade missed touch or the prop got binned. Didn't change their mindset at all.

Bullsbok wrote:I'm gonna go on a limb here and say the Wallabies will pull a rat out of the hat just when we least expect them to as usual .The Aussies are due a big one and I have a feeling its coming tomorrow.The current mood reminds me of the buildup to the French game in Paris which everyone expected them to lose only to have the Frenchies catch a beatdown

So close

alfie wrote:Dead rubber be damned that was a hell of a match !

The 3rd Bledisloe always seems to be a fantastic match, even when it is a dead rubber. Donald Ducks last game in Hong Kong comes to mind, kind of the reverse of this ending

Actually, our bench stepped up and once again it looks like it made the difference. Proud of the boys for not giving up, once again. Unlucky Wallabies, I truly thought they'd done more than enough to win. Can't believe it.

Well done ABs and congrats ebop, cane, taylor, kia, chilli and the persona behind greyghost.

Just goes to show... you can have all the stats in your favour but it's the final points on the scoreboard which counts. I'm just glad our blokes had a decent crack at it. Never seen such relentless smashing through the gain line from Oz and desperate defence from both sides.

Really shame for Oz, they played their best bit once again NZ just had enough to steal the win.

Australia can be a little upset with the lack of yellow cards for NZs repeat cheating and no19 was very lucky to just get a yellow there as well, red bottled it in my opinion.

Great try by Dane Coles though.

Cheers LD. Don't wanna say too much more but you guys were exceptional tonight and that's a take home message.

Wow
Aus must be gutted - definitely the better team for most of the game.
ABs attack needs to change its so predictable now. And our defence was poor today. Aus had too many half breaks and quick ball.

Ewen McKenzie resigned as Wallaby Coach this morning at 10am. Effective after tonight's match.
He told the players a couple of hours before the match. He's just conveyed the news during his press conference.

FIrst up, great game, congratulations to NZ great fight back, commiserations to Australia, it just shows how unpredictable sport really is.

You never know what is going to happen when to top teams face each other.

I expected the AB’s to win by more than two scores and yet Australia led for the most part.

Good to see Lealiifano back, very enjoyable player to watch, Kurindrani again very impressive. The Wallaby pack competed much better at the breakdown and that gave them opportunity to go wide more effectively. All Blacks are beginning to look vulnerable out wide.

But, as always they just know when to up the pace and intensity of the game.

McKenzie has quit,wow that leaves Oz in a mess coming into the AI's.

Yes, 11 wins from 22 games. 50% winning record which will be perceived as poor.

By comparison:

Bob Dwyer:63.89%
Alan Jones: 67.74%
Greg Smith: 63.16%
Rod Macqueen: 79.07%
Eddie Jones: 57.89%
John Connolly: 59.09%
Robbie Deans: 58.67%

Sort of in shock. Very sad to see him walk down that corridor 15 mins ago.

Poor Oz, just what the hell is going on. I thought team Wales had it bad. The guy was a good coach so it's a shame this has happened. Let the criticism of the Wallabies continue, because if today's game is anything to go by they'll be highly motivated come the autumn tour.

That's the way I see it too, Saint.

We need more disharmony and controversy to motivate our players obviously.

Correction from my above post. Apparently the players weren't told before tonight's match.

His resignation though, makes it seem like there was truth in that article I read from ESPN, about his affair with Di and how he had lost the Wallabies dressing room because of it.

Dog, I've seen Australia criticised, written off then come out and play like their lives depended on it a few times. At their lowest point they're still capable of world class performances.

Bit shocked , LD

Had switched off after the game so knew nothing until your post.

Wonder how much that rubbish over Beale contributed ?

Don't know, alf. I heard something about a "workplace issue"? Sounds like there was pressure coming from different angles and the press "hounded" him about it for the last 2 weeks or so.

I'm still not sure whether I trust Bill Pulver. In fact, no... I am quite sure I don't like the guy or his style. He seemed to deny any existence of what's happened until this morning. Wouldn't surprise me if he did know more but is not willing to admit it. John Eales knew (of course)... being on the ARU Board.

Surely it's Michael Cheika's job now?

Aus should have won that really. Hugely similar to Ireland match the ABs won last year. The players are still there in most positions

The Loaded Dog wrote:Yes, 11 wins from 22 games. 50% winning record which will be perceived as poor.

By comparison:

Bob Dwyer:63.89%
Alan Jones: 67.74%
Greg Smith: 63.16%
Rod Macqueen: 79.07%
Eddie Jones: 57.89%
John Connolly: 59.09%
Robbie Deans: 58.67%

Sort of in shock. Very sad to see him walk down that corridor 15 mins ago.

He might have had the players but I'm not sure that he's had the dressing room you'd hope you'd get at that level. Hard to predict what the Aussies will be like in the RWC now. I'm not sure anyone knows. If they could play like they did today... but how do you do that with all these off-pitch implosions?

Lots of wasted potential.

The Loaded Dog wrote:Don't know, alf. I heard something about a "workplace issue"? Sounds like there was pressure coming from different angles and the press "hounded" him about it for the last 2 weeks or so.

I'm still not sure whether I trust Bill Pulver. In fact, no... I am quite sure I don't like the guy or his style. He seemed to deny any existence of what's happened until this morning. Wouldn't surprise me if he did know more but is not willing to admit it. John Eales knew (of course)... being on the ARU Board.

Surely it's Michael Cheika's job now?

Surely it'd be suicide for Cheika to try to take over so close to the RWC and with all the muck throwing that's been going on so far. If he's got any sense he'll wait until after the RWC or at least let a caretaker sort the AI's and decide after that.

Martin Johnson is available though.

The Loaded Dog wrote:Don't know, alf. I heard something about a "workplace issue"? Sounds like there was pressure coming from different angles and the press "hounded" him about it for the last 2 weeks or so.

I'm still not sure whether I trust Bill Pulver. In fact, no... I am quite sure I don't like the guy or his style. He seemed to deny any existence of what's happened until this morning. Wouldn't surprise me if he did know more but is not willing to admit it. John Eales knew (of course)... being on the ARU Board.

Surely it's Michael Cheika's job now?

Cant help but think Hooper led a mutiny against Mckenzie to get his Club boss in . Cynical thinking on my part i know but i doubt if Ewen would have left had Will Genia been part of the leadership group throughout the campaign .

Notch wrote:

The Loaded Dog wrote:Yes, 11 wins from 22 games. 50% winning record which will be perceived as poor.

By comparison:

Bob Dwyer:63.89%
Alan Jones: 67.74%
Greg Smith: 63.16%
Rod Macqueen: 79.07%
Eddie Jones: 57.89%
John Connolly: 59.09%
Robbie Deans: 58.67%

Sort of in shock. Very sad to see him walk down that corridor 15 mins ago.

He might have had the players but I'm not sure that he's had the dressing room you'd hope you'd get at that level. Hard to predict what the Aussies will be like in the RWC now. I'm not sure anyone knows. If they could play like they did today... but how do you do that with all these off-pitch implosions?

Lots of wasted potential.

We'll be fine, mate. I'm not worried in the slightest really.

Australia, in sport, is like the proverbial water off a ducks back scenario. It's just that I wish we'd be more like the duck itself rather than the actual water sliding off the feathers... as we were tonight.

Unlike most other countries, we are more than capable of turning what others might consider "disasters" into victories.
Just look at the record books. (Mostly other sports but also rugby to some extent) We are more than capable of bouncing back from adversity.

And we know that you know it.

Ireland cannot say that, can they? You have had a couple of mini high points. That's it. You've never beaten the ABs.
As an Ireland rugby fan you've never experienced winning the Big Global thing as Australia has done on 2 occasions. That must seem crazy, I know.

This Wallaby team (there might be a few new selection surprises before next September-October don't forget) will perform better than most at the RWC as usual... save probably NZ and SA. We are very different to Ireland. When you implode - you do so for the best part of a decade.

Australia, on the other hand, are excellent at recovering in relatively quick time if you hadn't noticed. In fact our ability to turn things around 180 degrees is what most other sporting nations envy or are fearful of. It even scares/surprises me too sometimes!

Here's a little thought I had this evening:

NZ, a small country, yet still a rich one - has perfected the art of getting mileage out of their sporting teams pretty well. The ABs are the epitome of that and they showed us that amazing capability once again tonight. They don't need much of an opening to break through the barrier. They are so desperately hungry to maintain their excellent record. They are also very highly skilled at what they do and are very, very experienced at winning.

Australia, a very large and rich country too - can also perform these rugby miracles every now and then. NZ and SA have done it better historically though but Australia is always just on the next level below. In the last couple of months they've sagged a little. That's all. They are still a pretty good side though.

However, Australia (as a nation and in our sporting psyche) tend to be complacent on occasion... or more correctly - wasteful... because we have so bloody much! That's probably what you are saying with your "Lots of wasted potential" comment.
We are still pretty confident in our abilities though. That's a massive advantage against lesser teams. (i.e. most teams)

One should never underestimate our potential capabilities; especially when all seems lost or the chips are down. The skills and abilities are always there but so too is the wasteful inconsistency. (So annoying!) But so too is the propensity to bamboozle and destroy bigger opposition. (Bloody brilliant!)

Our record against the Big 2 in Rugby Union is really quite flattering considering there are 3 much bigger winter codes competing for the same mid-sized winter pie here. We do punch well above our weight in rugby and we do have more experience than most other rugby nations in beating the ABs/Boks... although I'd like to see it happen much more often of course.

So may I suggest you look at tonight's resignation of Ewen McKenzie as the first step towards a greater goal in the future. It's actually a very positive thing for us. I'm pretty sure we won't be wasting time worrying about it. It's already history. The team will begin to move on upwards again for sure after this recent event. It's quite the correct and natural thing to do. It's just a pity that a nice person like EM had to suffer through it all.

JOC is gonna be back too. You've always had the backs and the back up backs and now it looks like the front five has a couple of definites. I worry for your locks who I think hinder your props. And wish Pococck (along with Rees, Ferris, etc) hadn't had the curse of the modern flanker

The Loaded Dog wrote:

Notch wrote:

The Loaded Dog wrote:Yes, 11 wins from 22 games. 50% winning record which will be perceived as poor.

By comparison:

Bob Dwyer:63.89%
Alan Jones: 67.74%
Greg Smith: 63.16%
Rod Macqueen: 79.07%
Eddie Jones: 57.89%
John Connolly: 59.09%
Robbie Deans: 58.67%

Sort of in shock. Very sad to see him walk down that corridor 15 mins ago.

He might have had the players but I'm not sure that he's had the dressing room you'd hope you'd get at that level. Hard to predict what the Aussies will be like in the RWC now. I'm not sure anyone knows. If they could play like they did today... but how do you do that with all these off-pitch implosions?

Lots of wasted potential.

We'll be fine, mate. I'm not worried in the slightest really.

Australia, in sport, is like the proverbial water off a ducks back scenario. It's just that I wish we'd be more like the duck itself rather than the actual water sliding off the feathers... as we were tonight.

Unlike most other countries, we are more than capable of turning what others might consider "disasters" into victories.
Just look at the record books. (Mostly other sports but also rugby to some extent) We are more than capable of bouncing back from adversity.

And we know that you know it.

Ireland cannot say that, can they? You have had a couple of mini high points. That's it. You've never beaten the ABs.
As an Ireland rugby fan you've never experienced winning the Big Global thing as Australia has done on 2 occasions. That must seem crazy, I know.

This Wallaby team (there might be a few new selection surprises before next September-October don't forget) will perform better than most at the RWC as usual... save probably NZ and SA. We are very different to Ireland. When you implode - you do so for the best part of a decade.

Australia, on the other hand, are excellent at recovering in relatively quick time if you hadn't noticed. In fact our ability to turn things around 180 degrees is what most other sporting nations envy or are fearful of. It even scares/surprises me too sometimes!

Here's a little thought I had this evening:

NZ, a small country, yet still a rich one - has perfected the art of getting mileage out of their sporting teams pretty well. The ABs are the epitome of that and they showed us that amazing capability once again tonight. They don't need much of an opening to break through the barrier. They are so desperately hungry to maintain their excellent record. They are also very highly skilled at what they do and are very, very experienced at winning.

Australia, a very large and rich country too - can also perform these rugby miracles every now and then. NZ and SA have done it better historically though but Australia is always just on the next level below. In the last couple of months they've sagged a little. That's all. They are still a pretty good side though.

However, Australia (as a nation and in our sporting psyche) tend to be complacent on occasion... or more correctly - wasteful... because we have so bloody much! That's probably what you are saying with your "Lots of wasted potential" comment.
We are still pretty confident in our abilities though. That's a massive advantage against lesser teams. (i.e. most teams)

One should never underestimate our potential capabilities; especially when all seems lost or the chips are down. The skills and abilities are always there but so too is the wasteful inconsistency. (So annoying!) But so too is the propensity to bamboozle and destroy bigger opposition. (Bloody brilliant!)

Our record against the Big 2 in Rugby Union is really quite flattering considering there are 3 much bigger winter codes competing for the same mid-sized winter pie here. We do punch well above our weight in rugby and we do have more experience than most other rugby nations in beating the ABs/Boks... although I'd like to see it happen much more often of course.

So may I suggest you look at tonight's resignation of Ewen McKenzie as the first step towards a greater goal in the future. It's actually a very positive thing for us. I'm pretty sure we won't be wasting time worrying about it. It's already history. The team will begin to move on upwards again for sure after this recent event. It's quite the correct and natural thing to do. It's just a pity that a nice person like EM had to suffer through it all.

If thats the way Australians are thinking they're in for more rough time. Times are changing and the competition is getting tougher than it was before.

McKenzie and Deans are 2 of the top coaches in the world so where do Australia go from here? Jake White??

The Loaded Dog wrote:Well done ABs and congrats ebop, cane, taylor, kia, chilli and the persona behind greyghost.

Just goes to show... you can have all the stats in your favour but it's the final points on the scoreboard which counts. I'm just glad our blokes had a decent crack at it. Never seen such relentless smashing through the gain line from Oz and desperate defence from both sides.

Hi LD,
Definitely another match we shouldnt have won but managed to edge at the end. Felt a bit for the W's and I could see something was up with Link when it kept flicking back to him and particularly when he didn't even join his side straight after the match. He just looked disinterested the whole match.

On the AB's once again our accuracy and execution deserted us as in Ellis.

Oz deserved to win this but did drop off jut enough at the end in terms of composure, and once again the AB's held together.

Not convinced with Barrett as starting 10.He took the line more but it all looked so disjointed, so 50/ 50 ish.

Not a fan of Hooper as captain either. He's getting marked by this sides lowpoints through continuing to show poor leadership, in my opinion.

But overall, Oz played so well for much of the match and after what fans have been through its a pity they werent rewarded here, it would have gone a long way to bringing some positivity to oz fans where the wheels are wobly elsewhere.

In saying that, there are good signs for this side to come- Speight, Moore to join them, Kurandrani's looking the real deal and AAC continues to impress going into his second set of 100 matches. They just need someone to steady the ship.

Commiserations LB.

My take on the ABs, When the Yellow card came out then that was their signal to hit the Go button,They kept Australia scoreless throughout that ten minutes (I think), then by covering the absence of Tuipuloto they had to go to their bench, and it was those bench players that brought the change of momentum.

Some may say how sorry they are for the Wallabies for not taking the victory last night, but it goes further than that.

We have seen over the last year or two how this All Black team can win playing sparkling, handsome rugby, that was not the case last night - the opposition didnt let them, what we saw was a team get an ugly win playing ugly rugby, this is the true testament of a good team, they can win under a variety of circumstances, its also a credit to the coaching staff and selectors.

In many ways a typical Bledisloe Cup match Aus coming out firing ahead at half time
then getting pegged back.A magnificent effort by Aus[both teams really] deserved a win.
Fitness levels MAY have denied them victory in the last 15minutes in 2 of there last 3 games.

Aus at home especially at a venue in which NZ last won 2008,in this 3 rd rather pointless
match.Played for cash really and has been a banana skin for NZ in recent years.

Never bought into this Aus falling apart bit the siege mentality was always going to be there.
Also the difference between a 10/12 with 30- 50 starts, and one with 2/3 was always a potential weakness.Especially a 12 who`s preferred position was 13 and the temptation
to tinker a bit with the side.Hope were not getting the rotation bit a la 2006 again.