Wallabies carved up as All Blacks throw down gauntlet

Australia haven’t been able to wrestle the Bledisloe Cup from Kiwi hands for eight years, and after Saturday morning’s rollicking smash-up by the All Blacks, they are going to have to try again next year.

Much noise was generated Down Under about the potency of this Australian outfit, and having still been in Melbourne when the Springbok dirt trekkers were beaten by Robbie Dean’s strongest XV in Sydney (save Scott Higganbotham, who must be their No. 8 surely?), the mood was definitively confident as the Eden Park match approached.

Now back in South Africa and once again on the outside looking in, Australian boastfulness was squished as the All Blacks bossed the game from the very beginning and as the game wore on showed why they have always been the world’s best rugby team. The Springboks did beat them three times in 2009, but those heady days of kick-and-chase-and-kick-again are long gone, so much so that Morne Steyn is looking increasingly unlikely to be South Africa’s starting fly half when the Springboks take on Australia in Durban on Saturday. Who would have seen that coming? Quite a few in fact.

Graham Henry picked the most experienced Test side in history for their first real test of the season, and it showed as the All Blacks found just the right combination of running, tactics and brimstone defence to make Quade Cooper look increasingly fretted with the ball in hand. The maverick Wallaby fly half threw some ‘inventive’ passes in Auckland, deprived of go forward ball as the All Black pack did a Samoa in dominating the tackle area and being highly physical on defence. Ali Williams and Jerome Kaino wondered around the field hungry for contact, a far cry from Cooper who was rightly accused of by one of the New Zealand commentators of being a player that never saw much contact any way.

Daniel Carter showed the world why he is the undisputed champion No. 10, tackling, kicking, passing and running in such a controlled manner that the rest of the All Black backline purred like a rag doll cat balled up next to a raging fire in a wood cabin located somewhere in the Groot Karoo. It was a clinical show of superiority with Richie McCaw outsmarting David Pocock at the breakdown with some masterful judgement calls of where to put his hands and body. For the Zimbabwean-born Pocock, his forward pack were swamped leaving him exposed, akin to a stream going one way and a river moving in the opposite direction…at the same time.

The All Blacks were exceptional value for their 30-14 victory, ensuring that regardless of what happens in South Africa, they will enter the World Cup on home soil as raging favourites once again. For Australia, they have the unenviable task of heading to the Republic to face the real deal, with the best players named for the home leg this previous week. The Wallabies are still a fine side, but the Springbok coaching staff would have taken notes on how the All Blacks went about stopping the Australians on defence.

In a previous post, I said that if you were a betting man Australia represented the best value for money at the World Cup. That opinion has not changed, since if all sides win their respective games, Australia should beat any European opposition in the semi-final, and with the Springboks facing the All Blacks in the other semi if all goes well, a Wallabies-All Black final is still a likely event. As much as I want South Africa to win, the All Blacks are a far more rounded team. Heck, Dan Carter is even kicking drop goals. A final is a one-off game, and anything can happen, but after watching the All Blacks ruthlessly expose Australia, the odds for a Canary Gold victory have lengthened.

Of the Springbok squad, weirdly we are going to see virtually the same back line that won the 2007 tournament (apart from Jean de Villiers who if you remember bizarrely tore his bicep muscle against Samoa in the group stages) line up in Durban. The only major concern is that their isn’t any depth within the loose trio, but with Heinrich Brusssouw putting in an excellent display for Free State against Western Province in the Currie Cup, he might join the squad. Still, that wouldn’t leave any specialist cover on the bench which is a bit confusing from the Springbok coaching staff. Well, we have become use to surprises from Peter de Villiers and company haven’t we?

On a different note, I was exceptionally pleased to see the Golden Lions go to Pretoria and beat the Blue Bulls on their own patch. John Mitchell has done a fine job in Johannesburg, with the Super 15 whipping boys showing us that South Africans can play a more inclusive 15 man game then the more traditional 10 man set up we. With Free State also running the ball in a matter befitting their Cheetahs moniker, this years Currie Cup is shaping up into a very intriguing one. Griquas are also running around messing up the hair of those who travel to Kimberley.

The rugby season isn’t any where near finished, which is a warm thought in the chilly winter air.