Andrew Slack: Winners the ones who left kindergarten

Wallaby veteran George Smith shares some post-match thoughts. Photo / Getty Images

Opinion

When All Blacks are born, God clearly injects more of the genes responsible for ruthlessness and composure into them than he does into an infant Wallaby.

For the opening quarter of Saturday night's Bledisloe Cup match, it was the All Blacks who looked like no-walk, no-talk toddlers, with the Wallabies in full charge of the creche.

Eventually though, and by no means for the first time in an encounter between the two countries, the roles reversed. Richie McCaw's men matured and Stirling Mortlock's troop went back to kindergarten.

The momentum, the wind and 10 points on the board should have been the springboard to push 10 up to 20.

Instead, Wallaby prop Benn Robinson turned juvenile delinquent by throwing the ball away at an infringement and so inviting Stephen Donald 10 metres closer to the posts. Invitation accepted, three points were collected and the game had changed.

In most of the pre-match guesswork, the focus was on two individual battles: McCaw v George Smith and Donald v Matt Giteau.

Ultimately it was another which was the most pivotal. All Black halfback Jimmy Cowan completely outplayed the Wallabies' Luke Burgess. After the first 20 minutes, the New Zealand forwards obviously gave Cowan more of a platform than Burgess received, but you've still got to do the business, and I thought Cowan was outstanding. Burgess was not.

I was flabbergasted when Graham Henry took Cowan off pretty early in the second half and equally flabbergasted that Robbie Deans left Burgess on until the dying moments.

As it turned out, Piri Weepu kept up Cowan's good work, while Will Genia's efforts for the short time he was on indicated Deans had erred big time.

The best pack in the world joined to the best backline in the world by a dodgy halfback will often struggle, and when you have neither the best pack nor the best backline, and the number nine is off his game, there is not going to be much joy.

While the All Blacks yet again showed they are better at winning the tight contests than the Wallabies, neither side would have been pleased with what they offered up. Sure, wind can affect the quality of a game more than any other climatic factor, but from the comfort of a lounge chair on a balmy Brisbane afternoon, conditions didn't seem an adequate excuse for what was not one of the more memorable Bledisloe Cup clashes.

If they can maintain the form they showed against the British Lions, it's unlikely the Springboks would be terribly worried about what the All Blacks have to offer. They'll be even less concerned about the Wallabies.

* Andrew Slack was the last Wallaby captain to win a test match at Eden Park.