Rieko Ioane goes over for a try against the Wallabies. Photo / Getty
Rieko Ioane goes over for a try against the Wallabies. Photo / Getty
All Blacks 38
Wallabies 7
OPINION:
The black machine rumbles on, finding yet more momentum and fancy features that are starting to make it look like quite the high-end vehicle.
This wasn’t the ‘blow them away early’ sort of performance that did in the Pumas and Springboks, more a slow,steady grinding job that chipped away at the Wallabies until they disintegrated in the final quarter.
As an example of how to break an opponent down patiently, clinically and absolutely, this was an almost perfect example.
At the core of the performance was patience and certainty – a conviction, even, that the All Blacks had the right plan, and as long as they believed in it and stuck to it, the rewards would come.
Which they did, when Australia appeared to hit an invisible wall after 60 or so minutes and all but give up the ghost.
Or maybe, more fairly, the All Blacks just stuck the lever into fifth, rammed their foot on the floor and shredded a Wallaby defence that had been forced to do too much tackling in the last 20 minutes of the first half.
It was the ease with which the All Blacks found that extra gear that was remarkable.
The game was kind of drifting through an unmemorable second half where scrums were taking an age to set, players were lying around injured every other break and the Wallabies were dominating possession, but weren’t able to do much with it.
And then something clicked, and the All Blacks were at full speed, firing long passes to Mark Telea who was tormenting the Wallabies.
There was space and time, rugby looked like it was supposed to, and the All Blacks were in their element.
They swept left, they swept right, they bashed up the middle and the tries flowed in.
It was total rugby for the last 15 minutes and yet more evidence that the All Blacks have another dimension to their game now.
What set up this champagne finale was the hard work they put into the first 60 minutes, and it was the patience with which the All Blacks played in that period which best illustrated the growth they have enjoyed in the last nine months.
There were few cracks to be found in the Wallabies defence - no obvious weak points to prise open and they brought terrific line speed, genuine crunch in the contact and an admirable ability to recalibrate quickly and get ready to fire again.
There were times when it was a slow advance for the All Blacks – but they seemed content with that.
They didn’t lose faith in what they were doing just because it didn’t immediately bear fruit and Scott Barrett, Shannon Frizell and Codie Taylor were willing to charge into orange jerseys as many times as it took to get a breakthrough moment.
And Aaron Smith was on a mission to continually probe the short side, regularly taking play back towards the way it came to see if some sharp, short passing could generate an overlap.
It must have felt relentless for the Wallabies, as if they were under siege for much of the game, and building in the back of their minds as the first half wore on would have been a growing fear that all the tackling they had to was going to take their legs and lungs away from them in the final quarter.
Will Jordan dots down against the Wallabies. Photo / Getty
The Wallabies were perhaps fortunate that when their legs did indeed give way, the All Blacks didn’t inflict more damage than they did.
For all the flowing movement and ability to keep the ball alive, there were a few carless moments that cost the All Blacks a few tries.
They became a little complacent with the last pass and the fine detail, something which they will hear more about this week from a coaching panel that will be largely delighted, but as always, eager to highlight the little things that could have been done better.
And that’s arguably the most pleasing thing for this coaching panel – they are only able to find little things to gripe about.
The All Blacks scrum and lineout were again fantastic. They were penalised once too often at the breakdown, but they were marginal decisions.
And their rolling maul defence was much improved, twice sacking the Wallabies to win the ball back.
It was another good night again for the All Blacks.
