The sides will meet again in Wellington on Saturday night
Argentina remain in with a chance to win the Rugby Championship after beating South Africa 29-28
Phil Gifford is a contributing sports writer for NZME. He is one of the most respected voices in New Zealand sports journalism.
OPINION
When the All Blacks lead the Wallabies 31-14 after 44 minutes, as they did in Sydney on Saturday night, it feels like parallel universerugby when they then have to cling on to squeak to a 31-28 Bledisloe Cup test victory.
The first half was as exhilarating for an All Blacks fan as the second spell was nerve-wracking. The harsh reality is that the last 40 minutes have been a horror show for the All Blacks this season.
Why? It may be as simple as the fact that the New Zealand talent pool is not as deep as in the glory days last decade when the All Blacks could play the 2015 World Cup final with Keven Mealamu, Beauden Barrett, Ben Franks and Sonny Bill Williams on the bench.
And even then, Barrett, who rounded off the 34-17 Cup win against the Wallabies with a brilliant try, didn’t get on until there were just 16 minutes to play.
Right now, there isn’t a huge group of young guns knocking on the All Blacks door, so the rebuild coach Scott Robertson needs to make looks likely to still be in progress next year.
Saturday’s test in Wellington shapes as a chance to experiment for the All Blacks selectors.
The Bledisloe Cup has been safely locked away for another year. We can’t win the Rugby Championship. There’s nothing to lose.
One punt I’d love to see taken would be starting Blues first five-eighths Harry Plummer. I’m still an admirer of Damian McKenzie, but Plummer, whose intelligence on and off the field impresses everyone he deals with, might offer the sort of calculating direction he did for the Blues.
The All Blacks can’t play the tight, no-risk, hard-driving rugby that won Super Rugby for the Blues. With Brodie Retallick, Sam Whitelock and Shannon Frizell gone, the All Blacks don’t have enough huge, hard-edged forwards to smash their way upfield.
But Plummer seems cool-headed and astute enough to change tack, to comfortably adjust to the idea of steering the attack out wide, where there are numerous All Blacks attacking threats, as seen during the first half in Sydney.
Harry Plummer made his test debut for the All Blacks against the Wallabies in Sydney. Photo / Photosport
Man of the match
There were, until the second-half malaise set in, some stellar performances from the All Blacks. Caleb Clarke is back to his dynamic best on the wing, Cortez Ratima was efficiency personified at halfback and Wallace Sititi increasingly looks to be settling in for a long, impressive international career.
But Will Jordan at fullback gets my vote. He constantly beat the first two or three tacklers when he ran with the ball, and his combination of speed and clear-eyed summing up of situations marks him as a potential once-in-a-generation player.
Almost Aussie, Aussie, Aussie
If the Wallabies had clawed their way to victory in Sydney, it would have been a magnificent triumph of will. The Aussies looked shell-shocked, exhausted and beaten when down 24-7 after just 24 minutes.
After the 67-27 demolition of the Wallabies by the Pumas two weeks earlier, you might have expected another fall off a cliff, as Australian coach Joe Schmidt phrased the Argentinian hiding.
But outstanding No 8 and captain Harry Wilson led a comeback that so rattled the All Blacks, the smooth-running New Zealand machine spluttered and almost ground to a halt.
Yes, the All Blacks lost four tries from unforced errors but old-school Ocker determination was just as big a factor in keeping the Wallabies in the hunt.
Will Jordan and Cortez Ratima were among the stars for the All Blacks. Photo / Getty Images
Was that the guard changing?
Argentina’s 29-28 win over South Africa in Santiago del Estero comes with caveats. The Springboks made 10 changes from the team that beat the All Blacks in Cape Town, but after Argentina’s thrashing of Australia and their 38-30 defeat of the All Blacks six weeks ago, the Pumas have surely shown they deserve respect from any opponent.
And there are signs the Pumas will only get stronger. Unlike New Zealand, where in many areas, community rugby is hanging almost by a thread, Argentina has a thriving amateur club competition, and the sport, once the preserve of the rich, now has 100,000 registered players.
“Rugby’s still a niche sport compared to football,” says revered former captain Agustin Pichot, “but it’s a huge niche.”
Hopefully not an omen
Twenty-four years ago, at the same Sydney stadium Saturday night’s test was played, the All Blacks, in Wayne Smith’s first year as coach, led Australia 24-0 after eight minutes. The Wallabies made an amazing comeback but the All Blacks eventually won 39-35.
The next test was played in front of a sell-out crowd in Wellington, just like next Saturday. The 2000 result? An 80th-minute 24-23 win to Australia.
