A 33-13 five-tries-to-one Bledisloe Cup victory in Wellington for New Zealand over Australia will have gone a long way to settling
uneasiness in the All Black camp.
Was it the perfect performance? No.
But it was a big step up from the scary second half in Sydney. This time, the All Blacks withstood a gutsy early attacking blitz by the Wallabies, then exorcised the twin demons of not winning in Wellington for six years and second-half fragility in their preceding five tests this year.
With the Southern Hemisphere campaign now over, we can take a breath, look beyond our borders and realise suggestions all the power in rugby has moved north look characteristic of the traditional over-excitement of British media.
For a start, the 2024 version of the Springboks is a much better side than the one that won the World Cup last year, and neither France or England were good enough to beat the ‘23 Boks in France. Ireland couldn’t beat the All Blacks at the Cup either.
England came here in July with every advantage in game preparation on their side, and still lost tests to the All Blacks in Dunedin and Auckland.
In other words, while the All Blacks’ tour in Europe in November, playing England, Ireland, France and Italy, will be a massive challenge, it shapes as not an insurmountable one, as it probably did after the low point of the All Blacks’ 38-30 loss to the Pumas in August.
Men of the match
Will Jordan showed why he has the potential to be one of the all-time greats.
In his best position as fullback, he’s a constant threat. His special attributes are blistering pace and an ability to react in a split second to what’s in front of him. But the foundation for his daring running with the ball is a fearlessness that means he never shies away from physical contact.
In the forwards, the remarkable debut season of Wallace Sititi continues to hit higher and higher levels. After just three tests as a starting flanker he’s playing like a leader, his boundless energy matched by his skills, perfectly demonstrated in the 35th minute when he stepped two tacklers, and triggered the move that led to Sevu Reece’s try.
Try of the test
Caleb Clarke’s two tries were a reminder of his return to brilliant form.
Reece’s head-back, legs-whirring try was a delight. But when Will Jordan was flicked a short pass by Beauden Barrett 35m from the Australian line in the 21st minute, what followed was breath-taking.
Jordan looked surrounded by four Wallabies. Then he stepped one, stepped a second and, as Dan the TVNZ weatherman might say, “Whoosh” - he was gone and scoring a try for the ages.
Deja vu all over again
Who the All Blacks’ first five should be remains as thorny a question as it was at the start of the international season.
Beauden Barrett was efficient in Wellington. But we’ll only know when the team to play England at Twickenham on November 3 is named, if it was enough to persuade Scott Robertson that Damian McKenzie is best used as an impact player off the bench, rather than as the starting first five.
Looming over the whole issue is whether Richie Mo’unga is going to be a candidate next year. Mo’unga’s detractors tend to forget he steered the All Blacks to a World Cup final last year. His reputation is not remotely only based on seven Super Rugby wins with the Crusaders.
Mo’unga will be 33 when the next World Cup is held in Australia in 2027. That’s exactly the same age Dan Carter was when Carter was a key figure at first five as the All Blacks won the Cup in 2015.
Veterans can be handy
One of the best players for the All Blacks in Wellington was 80-test veteran Anton Lienert-Brown at second five.
He’s a player whose abilities are probably recognised more by All Black coaches than by commentators. Steve Hansen first picked him in 2016, and Lienert-Brown has been selected for the All Blacks in every year since, in Ian Foster’s teams and now for Robertson.
Lienert-Brown’s game against the Wallabies was as good as any he’s played in the black jersey.
Still the benchmark
Any doubts about how good the Springboks are were trampled into the lush surface of Mbombela Stadium as South Africa whipped the Pumas 48-7.
The key to the victory came not only from forward domination, but also an inventive, slick backline who no longer act as uninvolved spectators while giants like Eben Eztebeth and Malcolm Marx beat up opposing forward packs.
There are now what amount to neon signs of the influence that the pride of Central Otago, Tony Brown, is having as attack coach for South Africa. Players like fullback Aphelele Fassi and wing Cheslin Kolbe are getting opportunities, and seizing them.
In the process, head coach Rassie Erasmus has shown he’s prepared to look beyond the brute force of the “bomb squad”, the seven giant forward reserves who gave the Boks a different pack for each half of a test.
