Sports. Honestly. Since 2011

All Blacks "Clinical" Over Wallabies

The Wallabies started the week promising an imaginative, more punishing team. The All Blacks lost two key players. If any game was under threat for the All Blacks, it was this one.

What happened though was best described by Wallaby captain James Horwill, who called the All Blacks “clinical” in all aspects of the game. Yet again the men in black proved that they are equal to the task, and the Wallabies once again crumbled.

Granted it was nowhere near the demolition of last week, but the Wallabies just couldn’t complete the many attacking chances they had. James O’Connor had a great run in almost clear space, with Will Genia in support and held on for too long before being cleaned up by debutante Tom Taylor. Christian Leali’ifano had a great run in the 24th minute, but was cut down by Aaron Smith and had almost no support to offload to. The All Blacks didn’t help their cause though with Keiran Read then committing what some saw as a personal foul taking a player out off the ball.

Leali’ifano once again proved dominant with the boot, although uncharacteristically he did miss one of his many kicking opportunities, but still ultimately proved to be the only thing saving Australia from being completely demolished.

The big story though has to be 23-year old Tom Taylor’s first run in the black jersey. What a run it was, too. After missing an early penalty, Taylor went on to really find his form, converting Ben Smith’s 26th minute try, and then slotting penalty goals and conversion with, while perhaps not perfect accuracy, certainly with growing confidence.

Israel Folau, virtually absent from last week’s game, was still hard to see at best. He did, however, insert his presence into the game late in the second half, busting the line, getting open space and doing what he does best, running like hell. I’ll admit, I do have a lot of respect for Folau, primarily based on my being a Melbourne Storm (Australian National Rugby League Team) fan, which is Folau’s Alma Mater. But even if I didn’t, hand on heart he made a blistering run that deserved the try he got. The All Blacks got caught napping, and while it was only the briefest of flickers, the fire inside the Wallabies did flare to life for a moment there.

Bottom line is the All Blacks did what needed to be done. I’d be inclined to think “clinical” is perhaps a little over generous on Horwill’s part. The All Blacks made too many silly handling mistakes, and gave away too many penalties. Fortunately the Wallabies weren’t really able to capitalise on these mistakes. Likewise both teams had a shocker finding touch with the boot, either not putting the ball out, or putting it out on the full.

We won, and we won well. There was a lot of strong, focussed play from the All Blacks, and Tom Taylor deserves to be one proud kid, especially playing his first test not only in front of his family, but in front of All Blacks legends Sir Colin “Pinetree” Meads and Sir Brian Lochore. It’d be kind of like playing in front of God himself having those two watching you.

The All Blacks now have a week off before facing Los Pumas, who will probably be shaking off a battering from the South Africans. I believe this next game the All Blacks need to focus on gelling more as a team, and getting the fundamentals right. If we play the way we did tonight against the Springboks, we may well find we’re in big trouble.

Also of concern is Tom Taylor coming off injured in the 79th minute. Is the Number 10 jersey cursed, as commentator Grant Nisbet suggested?

Final score 27 – 16 in a cold and windy Wellington Stadium. The win means New Zealand retains the Bledisloe cup for another year, making it 11 years so far we’ve held the cup. Tony Woodcock became the fourth All Black in history to reach a mammoth 100 test caps, and in typical Woodcock fashion, said about three words in his acceptance speech, then asked if he could have a beer…apparently the Bledisloe cup holds 47 bottles of beer when filled, so I’m guessing he was a tad thirsty. The All Blacks currently holds the top spot on the points table for the Rugby Championship overall, although as at writing the Springboks had yet to play their game against Argentina. But I’ll take the win for the time being.

Thanks for reading, you can follow me on Twitter –@recaffeinated99. Give the site a follow while you’re at it – @lastwordonsport.

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