All Blacks retain treasured silverware

All Blacks Byron Kelleher and Joe Rokocoko hold

aloft a peice of their retained silverware.

The All Blacks have put in a dominant second half performance to overcome the Wallabies and retain the Bledisloe cup and tri-nations 26-12 at a drenched Eden Park.

The first half was pretty even, with no tries and nothing to spectacular from either team the All Blacks snatched a 12-9 halftime lead. The AB’s were the fist to appear on the scoreboard as Dan Carter nudged over a gift three point, but soon later Stirling Mortlock tied it up before Matt Giteau struck a wobbly drop goal that just kept going.

Both sides were very much playing to the wet Auckland conditions, keeping it in tight and the outside backs not seeing to much ball apart from retrieving kicks.

The All Blacks then got another penalty to lock it up at six all. The sides then again traded penalties before Adam Ashley-cooper threw the ball away which gave Dan Carter the opportunity to give the New Zealanders a 3 point half time lead.

In the second half, the new Zealanders stepped up a gear, a gear that the Australians couldn’t reach, they extended their lead to six when George Smith gave a dumb penalty away on a day when Dan Carter couldn’t miss, but the boot of Stirling Mortlock was keeping the Wallabies in touch. Carter kicked another penalty to extend the Kiwis lead back to six.

A stunning intercept from rookie halfback Brendon Leonard sparked the All Blacks to a new level, he was dragged down five metres short of the white line, he was joined by the All Black forwards who had great continuity. Kevin Mealamu looked to have scored the opening try of the match, only to be ruled inconclusive by the television match official.
But if was only a matter of time before the All Blacks did get the try, it eventually came in the form of Tony Woodcock, barging over in the corner.

The Wallabies defence had been pretty good but they never really threatened the All Black line, Carter kicked yet another penalty to seal the All Black win.

There can be plenty of positives to be taken out of that match for both sides. The
All Blacks seem to have regained form as a side this comes from patience, a quality that got them so far last year but has been missing this year, this match will also re-establish their confidence and will keep them as firm favourites heading into France. They also have missing form back into their key playmaker and goal kicker Dan Carter, hitting form at the perfect time. The Wallabies did lose and will be a bit disappointed about that, but they have shown over the coarse of the tri-nations that they have closed the gap on the New Zealanders, and will be real threats come October.

All is at stake

All is at stake; Bledisloe cup and tri nations, the scene is set; the winner will take all come Saturday in Auckland.

The wallabies are now full of confidence after taking out game one in Melbourne, but this task is bigger, The All Blacks in New Zealand, the Aussies will have to be at the top of their game.

The kiwis are yet to reach the pinnacle of their form and you feel they are still holding back, coach Graeme Henry named what he called his best side, is this the game the All Blacks hit their straps and we see glimpses of what they will do in France? Their midfield is the Area that let them down in the later stages of the first test, but the selectors have decided to keep faith in Luke McAlister and bring in youngster Isaiah Toeava to face up against Australians Stirling Mortlock and Matt Giteau. In the forwards, the kiwis have opted to start Anton Aliver over Kevin Mealamu because of his scrummaging.

The Wallabies have been talking themselves up midweek and think they are a real chance of causing an upset. With a defence that has dramatically improved and dangerous halves and centres in attack they will provide a great challenge for the All Blacks. They name an unchanged forward pack and just one change in the back line (Adam Ashley-cooper replacing Julian Huxley at fullback), which means they have already played together to work out combinations.

With both sides having very strong defence, it should be a low scoring tight encounter, at a wet, cold Eden Park. History favours the All Blacks, having not lost to the Wallabies for over twenty years at Eden Park. I think the game will be won on determination; I am tipping them to just get home 16-13 with an edge in the forwards.

Late Point Blitz sees the All Blacks home

The All Blacks have scored three tries in the last twelve minutes to beat a gutsy second-string Springbok side 33-6 at Jade Stadium.

The first half was very average viewing with both sides only managing penalties. The New Zealanders looked most likely to score, but failed to capitalise on opportunities, notably an example being Luke McAlister doing the wrong thing off a break. The springboks never really looked like scoring a try but managed to keep in touch by the boot of Derrick Hougaart.

Both sides started the second half with a lot more intent to score but no one looked like
finishing the tries off. Midway through the second half springbok flanker Pedrie Wannenburg was sin-binned. The boot of Dan Carter took New Zealand out to a 12-6 lead.

But the spirited defence of the second string springbok side was finally broken as Joe Rokocoko latched onto an offload from fellow winger Doug Howlett before drawing the springbok fullback with a slick pass to halfback Brendon Leonard who scored the first try of the match, although not until the 68th minute.

From then on the kiwis looked unstoppable and the South African defence was finally giving way as replacement Nick Evans did some great finishing to score in the corner and first five-eight Dan Carter happened to be in the right place at the right time to score on the final hooter.

There were positives and negatives to be taken out for both teams. For the All blacks they can be happy with the opportunities they created but will be disappointed at their inability to finish the opportunities off. South Africa can be happy with the depth that they have shown by sending competitive second-string teams to Australia and New Zealand but will be disappointed with their defence in the final stages of the game.

Mortlock leads Wallabies to upset victory

The All Blacks show their dissapointment after a shock loss to the Wallabies in Melbourne.

Wallabies captain Stirling Mortlock lead his side to a spirited victory over the All Blacks in Melbourne. A crowd of close to 80,000 turned out at the MCG and saw two late tries as the Australians pulled off 20-15 win.

The All Blacks started well and things were looking bad for the Wallabies after some good continuity resulted in Tony Woodcock barging over for the first try.

Mortlock got the Wallabies on the board with a straight-forward penalty but minutes later some slick back play resulted in recalled winger Rico Gear dotting down for the Kiwis second.

The sides then traded penalties to give the kiwis a 15-6 half-time lead.

The New Zealanders missed crucial opportunities to pull away from the Wallabies, Luke McAlister failing to capitalise on an intercept and Rodney So’oialo spilling the beans on a certain 5 pointer.

The All Blacks dominated the scrums, but without reward as penalties were awarded inconsistently by referee Marius Jonker.

The score was unchanged until halfway through the second stanza when All Black prop Carl Hayman was harshly sin-binned for repeated rucking infringements. This proved very costly for the All Blacks as the Wallabies capitalised on a 14-man New Zealand team.

Wallabies surprise selection Adam Ashley-Cooper scored the Wallabies first try to fire up an exuberant Australian team. Not long after, the Wallabies comeback was complete after inspirational captain Stirling Mortlock Busted through a poor tackle by Luke McAlister before passing to Scott Staniforth who scored under the sticks to provide the aussies with a five point buffer which proved to much for the All Blacks to pull back.

For the final three quarters of the game the wallabies defence was very promising, All Black five-eight Dan Cater was well of his best and nothing went to hand as the Wallabies beat the kiwis for the first time in four years.

This win which will knock the All Blacks of their perch a little bit and provide the Wallabies with a much needed confidence booster as well as setting up a cup decider in Auckland in three weeks time.