Australia 38 New Zealand10
Whether wittingly or not, giant wing Manu Vatuvei seemed to confirm what many suspect - that the Anzac test is not something the Kiwis ever expect to win.
Speaking to the Herald on Sunday in the immediate aftermath of Friday night's mauling at the hands of Australia, Vatuvei seemed all too willing to brush off the massacre as a small blip in an otherwise enjoyable week.
When asked whether there was much disappointment in the sheds following the loss, Vatuvei, one of the Kiwis' better players on the night, said: "Kind of. We should have done a little bit better I suppose but it's over and done with now. We've got to go back to our clubs and prepare for the next game so we can't dwell on it."
Even given that individual players react in different ways to a loss - and this response might well be a defence mechanism against the sting of defeat - it seemed a rather breezy, almost flippant, brush-off of a test-match concept that was designed to stir the passions, to summon the spirit of the Anzacs.
But just as Australia commemorates April 25 with much more pageantry and vigour than we do here, so do the Kangaroos appear so much more "up" for these annual tests. Only Benji Marshall seemed prepared to go toe-to-toe with Australia in the lead-up to this match and after the opprobrium heaped upon him he'll probably never make that "mistake" again.
The Kiwis won the second Anzac test 22-16 in 1997 at Albany, the only one to have been played on this side of the Tasman, but the other chapters have combined to make a sorry story. Last night made it 9-1 to Australia with a combined score of 337-118.
The problem with trying to engender support for a traditional rivalry is that it has to be a genuine rivalry. So far, the Anzac test has been a rivalry only in the geographical sense, rather than two evenly matched foes slugging it out for pride and honour.
The numbers above suggest a bantamweight trying to out-punch a heavyweight and we all know what the result of that is going to be.
While the crowds in Brisbane have remained strong for these tests, even Queenslanders will soon fail to see any novelty in a ritualistic slaying.
"We've got to keep our heads up," Vatuvei continued. "They [Kangaroos] are a pretty good team. We've got to learn from it and move on."
Perhaps the crux lies there. Stephen Kearney gets so little time with these guys and everybody knows the really big international games are at the end of the year with the Four Nations, a re-worked version of an old, old concept that is scheduled for October and November in England and France. This perhaps is a "learning" opportunity first and foremost.
Although nobody would ever admit it, this was Kearney's chance to see how a few fringe selections handled the pressure-cooker atmosphere, how combinations held up and who displayed the right attitude in the week leading up to the match. In other words, while they would have loved to win, there were other motivations as well. The World Cup-winning coach said a poor 10 minutes either side of the break cost his side as Australia increased a 10-6 lead to 22-6.
"I'm disappointed obviously with the result but the one thing I couldn't fault was the lads' effort.
"I guess a couple of instances in the game ... they were moments in the game that made it really tough for us."
With Australia holding a 10-6 lead despite the Kiwis making most of the first half running, Justin Hodges scored the softest of tries scooting out from dummy half, with time almost up in the first spell.
David Fa'alogo will not enjoy watching the tape of that try. Immediately upon resumption, Glenn Stewart was stopped short of the line but a messy offload cum defensive strip spilled to Johnathan Thurston, who leaped over the melee to score.
Game over there and then.
The one positive for the Kiwis and, more particularly, their club paymasters, is that there were no significant injuries and no citings.
Australia 38 (J. Thurston 2, J. Hodges 2, I. Folau, B. Slater, D. Boyd tries; Thurston 5 gls), New Zealand 10 (S. Perrett, M. Vatuvei tries; B. Marshall gl). Halftime: 16-6.
