Wallabies v All Blacks

Bledisloe Cup: Wallabies v All Blacks in The Rugby Championship decider
Iain Payten The Daily Telegraph August 08, 2015 7:00PM


THE smallest Wallaby delivered biggest for Australia tonight to help end the All Black curse and secure a courageous Rugby Championship crown.

Reserve halfback Nic White — 81kg wringing wet — used his 16 minutes on the field to maximum effect by scoring a try and kicking two pressure goals to come from behind and beat New Zealand in a stunning result.

The win was the first for the Wallabies over the All Blacks in 10 Tests and on top of winning their first Rugby Championship since 2011, it also ensures the Bledisloe Cup will still be up for grabs next weekend in Auckland.

The Wallabies trailed 19-17 with 15 minutes remaining after former Bulldog Nehe Milner-Skudder scored the second of his two tries on debut.

But White’s entry saw him land a 45m penalty, and five minutes later he ran in the sealing try — and conversion — to lead his side to victory.

It is the first time the Aussies had won three straight Rugby Championship Tests since the year 2000, and gave Wallabies fans every reason to believe in their team heading towards the World Cup.

“They played particularly well and thoroughly deserved the win and championship,” All Blacks coach Steve Hansen said.

“They outmuscled us at scrum time but they they won the battle under the body and ball at the breakdown.

“We have to go away now and have a good look at ourselves. We don’t have to do that very often, and it still sucks. But it will build resolve within us.

“We have been here before. We have lost games before. It doesn’t mean we are a bad side.”

Was this an All Blacks try?1:44
All Blacks captain Richie McCaw said: “We got ourselves ahead on the scoreboard and that was the moment we needed to get things spot on. The feeling I have got is we made it a bit easy for them through poor decision making.”

The Michael Hooper-David Pocock partnership worked superbly, the Wallaby scrum turned in its best performance in a decade and veterans like Matt Giteau and Dean Mumm turned in blinders.

The Wallabies trailed 6-3 at halftime after a try less opening half that saw the hosts compete well with the Kiwis, but miss a few rare opportunities to score.

The selection of dual openside flankers appeared to pay dividends almost immediately for Australia, with Pocock poaching two turnovers in the opening five minutes.

Nerves saw plenty of dropped ball early but the Kiwis had the first chance in the seventh minute, when Milner-Skudder got a clean break on the right edge.

He was brought down but a resulting penalty saw Aaron Smith take a quick tap and be hauled down by Sekope Kepu in an off-side position.

He was sin-binned but the Wallabies did well to only go 3-0 down when down a man in the next 10 minutes.

The Wallabies’ ruck base cohesion and kicking games were poor, and they struggled to escape their half.

A charge down by Sonny Bill Williams almost led to a Kiwi try, but Matt Giteau saved the day by racing back first.

The All Blacks’ connections, in contrast, were superb; particularly in their short-passing game.

Pocock’s presence continued to inspire, however.

A nice line out move on halfway saw the Wallabies’ flanker charge out of a maul and upfield, and though it didn’t end in a try, a scrum penalty saw them draw level.

The Wallaby scrum was a bright light but the Kiwis pulled the shades back down quickly, using Dan Carter to knock over a second penalty and retake the lead.

Giteau missed a chance to even the scores soon after and the team botched its best chance to score soon after.

A sizzling Israel Folau line break saw him get within inches of the line but instead of finding a steaming forward runner, a rushed and long pass from Nick Phipps landed at the feet of Mumm and it was knocked on five metres out.

The Wallabies’ defence mitigated the damage of their lost chance, though.

The All Blacks laid siege to the Aussie line in the dying minutes of the first half but they couldn’t get through.

No tackle was better than the beast Hooper put on Julian “the Bus” Savea as the last play.

The Kiwis went down a man minutes into the second half when Smith was yellow carded for a high tackle on Adam Ashley-Cooper.

The Wallabies didn’t waste this chance.

A lovely step at the defensive line from Kepu saw the big prop leave Kieran Read grasping at thin air and race over the line for a first try.

Giteau added the extras but a poor Phipps pass soon after put Australia back under the pump, and gave Carter another three points.

Phipps went further in the doghouse when he let frustration at lazy Kiwi defenders get the better of him and he was sin-binned for a deliberate off-side tackle.

The Kiwis also didn’t waste this chance.

Ben Smith got free near halfway after wrestling the ball away from Ashley-Cooper and he fed Milner-Skudder for a try on debut and an All Blacks lead again.

Michael Cheika’s Wallabies pride themselves on hanging on, and they struck back in the 60th minute.

Matt Toomua’s injection saw him feather a grubber through that allowed Ashley-Cooper to regather and score in the corner.

The Kiwis answered yet again, however, with Milner-Skudder scoring a second try and in the 65th minute after he was held up over the Wallaby line but managed to just scrape it down with a second effort.