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July 18, 2009
Australia's Eden Park hoodoo will extend into a 24th year after the Wallabies wilted under a second half New Zealand onslaught in a 22-16 loss in the Bledisloe Cup opener.
Australia could not replicate an impressive first half attacking performance in a tense tactical battle that finished at one try apiece.
New Zealand five-eighth Stephen Donald booted four second-half penalty goals to ram home the All Blacks' territorial advantage as the Wallabies struggled under pressure at the breakdown and at scrum time.
The Australians led 13-10 after a bright first half in which centre Berrick Barnes scored in just the fourth minute before All Blacks captain Richie McCaw countered in the 26th.
But running with a helpful breeze, Australia would have been disappointed with their slender lead and the New Zealanders were back on level terms just a minute after the break through a Donald penalty goal.
The No.10 put them ahead for the first time in the match three minutes later before Giteau got the Wallabies back on level terms with a penalty of his own in the 46th minute.
But the New Zealanders eventually proved the stronger as frustrations got the better of Drew Mitchell and Ma'a Nonu, who traded shoves in the 50th minute before All Blacks replacement Owen Franks was penalised for joining in with a forearm.
But the momentum swung the New Zealander's way and they reclaimed the lead 19-16 with a 61st minute penalty goal to Donald after a Giteau clearance had been charged down in the danger zone.
Giteau had the chance to draw level again but hooked a 64th minute penalty shot from 30m out to the left and Donald booted another three-pointer in the 75th minute.
The Wallabies had got off to the best possible start when Barnes sliced through to score in just the fourth minute after good work from Giteau swooping on a loose ball.
Giteau's conversion and a 10th minute penalty goal extended Australia's lead to 10-0 before Donald got his side on the board with a 15th minute penalty.
The Wallabies should have gone further ahead but absolutely butchered a try when they had the Kiwis' defence cut to shreds in the 18th minute.
Unfortunately it was Test centurion George Smith who failed to handle a tough pass from Barnes with the line wide open, although Barnes probably should have passed to Stirling Mortlock a moment earlier.
Australia went out to 13-3 with another Giteau penalty in the 21st minute but five minutes later McCaw planted the ball on the line from a Conrad Smith offload after the home side had mounted one of their few patches of first-half pressure.
Donald's conversion made it 13-10 but the replacement for injured maestro Dan Carter had earlier missed two penalty shots, while Giteau had also sent one wide in the 29th minute.
Australia have not won at Eden Park since a 22-9 victory in 1986 and have not won in New Zealand since 2001.
AAP
http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,...016959,00.html
that was terrible. i may be a nsw supporter but they really need to drop burgess and start with genia.
and baxter, 3 full arms and 1 free kick against him. deans shud have pulled him off earlier.
and the back 3 need to learn how to catch. how many times did they let the ball bounce off the high kick?
bah
Welcome lotus flower.
I'll choose to focus on the positives for now, otherwise I may have to moderate myself...
1. The Lineout, especially Sharpey.
2. Genia's debut and brilliant pass, as predicted.
3. Palu made it through 80 minutes.
4. George.
5. JO'C getting the match he had to have out of the way.
6. That we can be so wasteful and stupid and still be in the hunt.
7. Nuh, that's about it...
"Bloody oath we did!"
Nathan Sharpe, Legend.
Bet they wish they'd kept Valentine in the squad after Burgess's dismal show. He was disgraceful.
Barnes SHOULD HAVE THROWN THAT PASS. It might pay off to just run once, but man it would have been a different game if we'd got those 7 points
Our back 3 were too far back when running up to catch the kicks.
James O'Connor - what happened! He touched the ball like 4 times, and 2 of them were big screw-ups.
Trestle did have some bad moments that deserved ping-ing, but a couple of them were nonsense.
Jobert needs to be shot. It's what they do to bad racehorses, it's what they SHOULD do to refs who fail to notice McCaw's outrageous cheating. Smith played a far better, as far as law-following goes, than McCaw, and he was pinged non-stop. On the wrong side of the ruck, trying to murder Drew, none of it got the correct punishment. I hate sounding like a sore looser but man I would have loved Deans to go all JM on us and have a bitch about the ref on TV!
I am trying to think of a positive.
Smithy and Palu and Browny looked pretty good. Genia looked OK too.
Who was MOM?
A kick in this game is like a rather nasty alcoholic shooter, only as good as it's chaser...
Courtesy of quality South African commentry
Smith was lucky not to be yellow-carded for hands in the ruck in the 22.
CHEERLEADERS ROCK!!!
Robyn,
Based on the criteria of 'who made the biggest impact on the game', MOM would be Joubert.
If it was 'most positive impact' he would have been stone motherless last, even behind Burgess.
Based on this performance, Cliffy will be back on the bench, Valentine will be bench warming for Genia and there may be a couple of new faces at prop.
Is Cam fit enough to come in at fullback??
'God invented beer to prevent Props from taking over the world'
as far as i'm aware no. cam had surgery on his ankle again after the S14. he was recovering and preparing for next season. writing off this year's international campaign effectivley...
but why do you jump into suggesting cam? ashley cooper does a great job at fullback. were you thinkng along the lines of putting him on the wing for drew? surley you wouldnt be thinking about taking turner off? he's been fantastic for the wallabies so far this year
---------- Post added at 09:15 ---------- Previous post was at 09:08 ----------
the article about him having more surgery is here :
http://twf.com.au/showthread.php?t=2...meron+shepherd
Sheps won't be back this season, his aim is on getting everything fixed now so he'll be right come 2011 RWC. AAC isn't doing too bad of a job when he actually gets the ball.Originally Posted by Timbo
Valentine won't be on the bench, he was dropped from the squad. He shouldn't have been though, Burgess was pretty crap. Even back in super 14, the Tahs backline didn't get much ball at all..was it not Burgess' job to get the ball to them?Originally Posted by Timbo
I don't think Gits had a very good game either but in part I think that was due to him covering for Burgess' mistakes.
Wallabies had a good start and looked organized… had the All Blacks held down nicely for a while… A shame about the missed try scoring opportunity in the first half…
Difficult conditions with spiraling winds and wet… I didn’t think the Wallabies bench had much impact and some looked lost and out of position. At one critical point late in the match during the last lineout, the ball was passed down to Pocock instead on Genia who passed it to JOC instead of Giteau and the play ended dead. This was a major screw up… a last chance opportunity gone. Neither looked like they ready nor looked to be standing in the right position… It was grand disarray…
JOC had a shocker… sorry but someone needed to say it… I guess he will get better… A reality check for the young man. However Robbie Deans chose him as his utility back so its Deans issue… any test against the All Blacks in NZ is a huge ask. I was more disappointed about the lack go commitment in the second half by some of the bench…
Sharpie had a great game… Wallabies need Rocky Elsom back ASAP...
All I've got to sat about that game is aaaaaaaaaahhhhhHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Thank god I had been roped into playing League up here after the match so I could take my frustration out on the kiwi's on the other team.
I don't know. I don't understand the technicalities of the scrum and I couldn't tell you what was really going on apart that it looked like it wasn't completely Baxters fault. But he was pinged at least 3 times and they were all attacking scrums for the Wallabies and two of them were around the All Blacks 22. Both good attacking positions that could've yielded points.
Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.
It's never Trestles fault, it's just that every Ref in the world has it in for him.
"Bloody oath we did!"
Nathan Sharpe, Legend.