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Sat 24 Aug 2013 | 09:37
All Blacks retain Bledisloe Cup with Wellington win over Wallabies

32
Comments

Ben Smith scored two tries as he and the All Blacks continued their fine form, beating the Wallabies 27-16 to retain the Bledisloe Cup in Wellington. Debutant flyhalf Tom Taylor kicked 14 points, while Tony Woodcock picked up his 100th Test cap.

The Wallabies started off well and it looked like this occasion was going to be entirely different to what happened in Sydney a week ago, when they were thumped 47-29.

A 6-0 lead in the first half from two Christian Lealiifano penalties gave them the edge before the All Blacks responded with two very well taken tries by Ben Smith, after some wonderful handling.

With a 15-6 halftime lead, the All Blacks didn't look too troubled in the second half and as Taylor got into the swing of things with the boot, even an intercept try by Israel Folau, who stepped namesake Israel Dagg beautifully, proved nothing more than a consolation.

The Wallabies haven't held the Bledisloe Cup since 2002 so will have to wait another year, although they will be able to have another crack at New Zealand when the two sides meet again in October.

Their next match is against South Africa in Brisbane on September 7th, while New Zealand host Argentina in Hamilton on the same day. The Springboks take on Argentina in Mendoza tonight.

We'd love to hear your thoughts on the match. Below are some discussion topics

Talking points: Register account | Login

- Tom Taylor's performance on debut
- The battle at scrumtime
- Referee Jaco Peyper not going upstairs for the Stephen Moore attempted try
- Ma'a Nonu shoulder on James Slipper
- Your Man of the Match
- Peyper failing to reach for his pocket after numerous All Blacks infringements
- The Wallabies repeatedly kicking away potential counter-attack ball (with poor kick chase)

Posted By: Grant Constable

32 Comments

  • riccardo
    11:27 PM 03/09/2013

    Interesting reading the same old lame comments regarding the All Blacks cheat and that referees let them get away with murder and other such sour grapes.

    There is an argument that either of Read or Conrad Smith could have been yellow-carded but as to this having an effect on the game. I don't think so.

    The All Blacks were better in this game but have a great deal more to offer but we'll get to that later. The All Blacks not only competed but ended up dominating line-outs and the scrums, particularly as the game wore on. Moore was pushed off the ball again and it seems to me that the Wallabies are clueless when it comes to the secondary shove, the re-load I think the experts are calling it, as the All Blacks were able to gain real ascendancy there.

    While we are talking about Moore, he and other Wallabies were coming from the side and then lying down, making little effort to roll away, and how they escaped Yellows defies belief. Maa's shoulder tackle? Please. Slipper's effort was as bad, if not worse.

    The reality here is that the All Blacks are playing at such pace that it's hard to defend accurately and while the All Blacks are making mistakes their opponents are out of position and committing offences. What's erally scary from an opponent's point of view is that other than the 2nd Test against the Tricolores the All Blacks haven't got it right yet and when they do add some accuracy to that pace, someone's going to cop a 50-60 point thrashing.

    As an auckland Blues fan may I just add 1 final comment. How good is Stephen Luatua going to be? Also watch out for Francis Saili on debut against Los Pumas this weekend; he has the potential to be the long-term solution to the inside centre conundrum for the All Blacks

  • riccardo
    11:11 PM 03/09/2013

    Reality is an odd moniker given you didn't watch the match, pass comment and then mis-remember statistics.

    You have it the wrong way round mate.

    The All Blacks had the least yellow cards, then the Wallabies and then the Boks, who were miles in front on the count.

    Stuart Dickinson had an agenda and was rightfully replaced. It was entertaining when he referreed though. Every second word/phrase from his mouth was that screech: "Get back Black!"

    As far as your insinuation that Joubert handed the All Blacks the 2011 RWC? It's probably more fair to say the All Blacks almost succumbed to the pressure again actually. But they didn't. BOTH teams had opportunities to close it our but didn't but one thing is for sure; the best team won.

  • riccardo
    11:11 PM 03/09/2013

    Reality is an odd moniker given you didn't watch the match, pass comment and then mis-remember statistics.

    You have it the wrong way round mate.

    The All Blacks had the least yellow cards, then the Wallabies and then the Boks, who were miles in front on the count.

    Stuart Dickinson had an agenda and was rightfully replaced. It was entertaining when he referreed though. Every second word/phrase from his mouth was that screech: "Get back Black!"

    As far as your insinuation that Joubert handed the All Blacks the 2011 RWC? It's probably more fair to say the All Blacks almost succumbed to the pressure again actually. But they didn't. BOTH teams had opportunities to close it our but didn't but one thing is for sure; the best team won.

  • benny
    9:09 PM 27/08/2013

    The ref says "2's never come out of the 10". Once Genia kicks, anyone in front of him (offside) must retreat 10m back from where the ball is going to land. Genia or another onside player can put them onside but until that moment they have to make an effort to retreat. By the time it landed, Mowen had put Moore onside but he had already stopped by that stage so was considered not retreating enough. It was borderline really but seemed like the right call

    That's my take on it anyway

  • spicksandspecks
    2:25 PM 27/08/2013

    Genuine question, not having a go.
    What was the ruling where Will Genia kicked ahead, the ball bounced back to him and he picked it up, then the Wallabies were penalised?
    The Wallabies players didn't get involved in the play and Genia was running forwards to try and put them onside.
    Was the ruling they didn't make enough of an effort to get onside during the kick?

  • benny
    10:35 AM 27/08/2013

    What exactly were you getting at with this comment?

    "Is it a conspiracy that these topics come up regularly? I think not...I think it's the truth..."

  • stroudos
    8:17 AM 27/08/2013

    Mate, there's always a good reason to complain about *Stuart* Barnes.

  • 1:34 AM 27/08/2013

    Don't remember him loosing a scrum against the head, at least one of his "errant throws" was a poor boost at the back.

    At least one of his penalties was complete bs, not retreating during the kick, he did no interfering at all.

    I thought it was the best game I've ever seen him play with the ball in hand, few decent passes (I think he sprung lealiifano) and made some yards...

  • drg
    4:00 PM 26/08/2013

    When specifically did I say this match was uneven?

  • rugbydump
    3:47 PM 26/08/2013

    FYI: This post now updated with better quality highlights

  • pedro
    3:12 PM 26/08/2013

    *3

  • pedro
    3:07 PM 26/08/2013

    Moore played pretty good?
    Rubbish at lineouts, gave away at least penalties and can't hook the ball. Interesting observation...

  • 12:15 PM 26/08/2013

    That was the same (kiwi) head of referees who told NZers to grow up after the QF exit in 2007 against France.

    You didn't see the match so can't comment. If you remember correctly? And pass off some stats? You also contradict yourself in your statement. I have to believe you're a troll because no ones really that stupid.

    If you watched the last two BC games you would have seen the ref playing a penalty advantage anytime the ABs were in the red zone on attack with fornt foot ball but were good enough on the occasion to score.

  • benny
    10:27 AM 26/08/2013

    Instead of speaking hypothetically, what if we talk about the game on the weekend and look at specific types of penalties? Seven times the ABs were penalised in their own 22 while the Wallabies had the ball. That includes ruck infringements and killing off an attack by being offside. Shocking, I know, that's almost one cynical penalty every ten minutes.

    And take a guess how many times the Wallabies were penalised in their own 22 while the ABs had the ball? Seven. These are not penalties for accidental offside or dropping a binding the scrum. They are only defensive ruck infringements and offside in the 22m.

    Please explain to me how that is uneven?

  • benny
    10:19 AM 26/08/2013

    Those stats can very easily be refuted. It's quite simple - if you enter a ruck from the side, you get penalised, if you fly across a ruck and smack a guy in the face with your elbow in front of the ref, you get carded. The number of penalties and cards is not correlated.

    You talk about the world cup final but neglect to mention McCaw was headbutted and eye gouged and Woodock stamped on after the whistle yet no cards. How is that one sided?

  • drg
    12:42 AM 26/08/2013

    To everyone against my comment up above, there has been the "statistics are like bikini's....." quote thrown around in other sections of RD in the past and I feel it is very appropriate.

    I am not writing a comment here about a particular game, but consider the following fantasy scenario:

    Australia on the attack, in the AB 22, Australian player drops the ball forward and an Aussie player in front of him picks it up. Outcome? - Penalty to the All Blacks...

    Later on an Aussie player crosses with another Aussie in the AB half. Outcome - Penalty to the All Blacks...

    Aussies later put hands in the ruck in their own 22 on AB attack. Outcome - Penalty to the All Blacks...

    In the dying moments the All Blacks twice go over the top right on their own try line to kill an Aussie attack. Outcome - 2 Penalties to the Aussies...

    Now statistically that is 3 penalties conceded by AUS, and 2 by the AB's....

    ...statistics don't tell you the full story..

  • drg
    11:48 PM 25/08/2013

    Statistics statistics statistics... The AB's deserved the win, there is no doubt about that, but many times they deserve punishment too... Do penalty statistics show the frequency and position of the infringements? Nope, all they say is that during the 80 minutes team A committed x amount of infringements and team B committed y infringements..

  • 10:03 PM 25/08/2013

    Thoughts on the game...

    Hooper was everywhere. He reminds me of Josh Kronfeld, all over the place making place, not one dimensional, he clearly outplayed mccaw, who was pretty quiet other than an intense haka.

    Conrad Smith might be one of the most dependable players in the world, always delivers a consistent performance, not too flash, but technically perfect.

    Kieran Reid is one of the best all around players in the world.

    Aaron Smith is in the top 3 for 9's in the world

    JOC much more effective on the wing, though I wonder if 13 might be a great spot for him. Room to move, 13 is often the difference between a move dying and resulting in a try, but not as much pressure?

    I like the new scrum laws, less resets, were there any collapses? The game kept moving.

    Ozzies have to thorw the ball around more, too cautious and they have great game breakers in falau, joc and quade. lealiifano is really developing into a great 12 too.

    Moore played pretty good, best ive seen of him.

    The ab's are cynical in their pro fouls, they space them out so the ref lets them off the hook, because although it's repeated, it's generally over large chunks of time. the ref has to recognize this and card them

    mowen is really developing and will be a good 8, the ozzies will be a final four next rwc for sure

  • reality
    8:16 PM 25/08/2013

    I didn't see the match so can't comment on whether or not the All Blacks got helped by the referee, but I think saying that people's impression that New Zealand get an easy ride with referees is unfounded is quite ridiculous. If you want stats and examples, I remember that Matt Williams on the breakdown gave a stat that on average Australia are yellow-carded every twelve penalties (or something similar), South Africa more or less the same, and then New Zealand had an incredibly high number over 50, if I remember correctly. As well, the only time I've ever seen a referee be criticised by his superiors was when Stuart Dickenson yellow-carded Corey Flynn for repeated scrum infringements, and his mate the New Zealander and head of the IRB referee board came out and publicly stated that Dickenson had done a poor job and talked about how sorry he felt for poor Corey Flynn to be in his opinion unjustly carded. Combine that with a World Cup final that was simply handed to New Zealand, and I'd say that people's impressions are definitely justified.

  • benny
    7:07 PM 25/08/2013

    When you say kiwi fans crucify you, do you mean they kill your argument backed up with stats and examples?

    Last week the ABs lost the penalties 11-6 and were carded once and everyone said we should have been carded more. This week the Aussies lost the penalties 16-8 and everyone says the ABs should have been carded more. How does that work? You can't have it both ways.

    Oh, it was penalties in the red zone you say? I'm watching the replay now and am 42 minutes in. So far, I have seen Toomua get penalised for exactly the same offence as A Smith (not releasing, 1m from the try line) then Moore also came in from the side in the same advantage. The Wallabies were penalised 4 times in 8 minutes but not even a warning. Moore himself, was penalised 3 times in 27 minutes. Next, Lealiifano was penalised for offside 1m from the try line in the lead up to second try. No card. I'm 42 minutes in and have counted 10 penalties (including that one under advantage).

    Yet the ABs had poor discipline in the red zone and deserved to be carded according to everyone?

    Is it a conspiracy? No, it's natural that people want to complain about the best team. Of course Kiwis don't sit around whinging about the ref after we win. We might do it after we lose but that doesn't happen to often.

  • 4:17 PM 25/08/2013

    Shocking video quality

  • thequickfrowningox
    2:09 PM 25/08/2013

    Yes that is what I also had in mind when I wrote the original post.

    Also, cheers to RD for the swift reply. I understand your objections to this system.

    Overall, better to have the results "spoilt" before you watch the highlights than no highlights at all. So I'm still a very greatful RD'er ;)

  • 1:17 PM 25/08/2013

    Being a AB fan I am sick of this referee is one eyed bollocks. In every match there will be times when calls go for you and against you. The ref does not have the luxury of watching from an armchair. He won't always get everything right. I thought the count for bad calls was pretty even going both ways in this match and not really indicative of the outcome.

    I think often it is the best in every sport who are criticised the most because people want to bring them down, and not believe they are as good as they are. Or they want to have a reason for losing that does not involve self reflection.

    IMO when the AB's go north sometimes this idea that we get preferential treatment from the refs runs so hard against us that we end up playing the ref as well.

    Now that that is off my chest, I think it was a mistake not to check upstairs for the first Aussie attempt at a try. IMO it was no try but close enough that he should have gone upstairs.

  • drg
    12:23 PM 25/08/2013

    RD have you ever been on imdb? Sometimes if you find a movie and want to have a quick read about it there are sections which are blanked out with the words "spoiler warning" and if you scroll over then the words beneath become clear. I doubt that would give a good image (spoiler warning written everywhere in bright red) but you guys might have a way to use your super brains to do something similar if needed...

  • rugbydump
    10:41 AM 25/08/2013

    It's something we have discussed in the past and we can understand that there may be a need for it in some cases, but news is news.

    Also, titling posts as 'All Blacks vs Wallabies - 2nd Test Highlights' would get a bit sterile. Then there would be having to try to not show the result or score in the opening paragraph, or on social media... it just gets a bit complicated.

    We'll give it more thought and if we can figure out a good way to introduce an anti-spoilers system, we will. Cheers

  • upthelowend
    9:36 AM 25/08/2013

    I think the overriding feelings on the topic arent directed at either team in particular per se, more whether this particular set of officials have the ability to control the game in the manner that its meant to be controlled. Of course every team is going to try to push the boundaries, but the ref should show the authority (to both teams) to penalise in the correct manner when necessary.

  • sportbarry
    8:33 AM 25/08/2013

    Over these last two tests NZ have scored at least 3 tries under penalty advantage, one double advantage I note. Australia have had a penalty count of 16-8 against them, and well deserved I say, Hooper offside so much and got away for it, and they forget the non-existant forward pass ruled out what would have been a great try and killed Australia off a lot earlier than they were.
    As for persistent offences, the joke of an Australia scrum gave away 4 or 5 penalties, yet no yellow card ?!

  • oceansnz
    6:52 AM 25/08/2013

    Cheers mate. While I agree that my AB's do commit some professional fouls the space of a game, they can't be held unfairly accountable for all transgressions that take place on the pitch as you've suggested.

    Hooper, seems to be lingering offside on occasion, playing others off the ball or guilty of shepherding a bit. He's doing what most 7's in Oceania are taught, and that is to test the referee and get as much ball as possible.

    So, in other words, people only notice what they want to notice.

  • thequickfrowningox
    4:26 PM 24/08/2013

    Dear RD,

    First of all, I'd like to say I'm a big fan of this website, have been for years. Being an avid rugby-player and lover of the sport, your website has given me access to a lot of footage I would have never gotten to see otherwise, living in a country where rugby is nowhere near as popular as it deserves to be.

    Having said that, it does frustrate me sometimes that you spoil the results and score of a match in the title of a post. Seeing as I didn't get the chance to see this match live, I came here looking for some highlights, but I still want to be ignorant as to what the final result was before I start watching those highlights. Maybe you guys could incorporate a "Spoilers" warning that will show you the score if you choose it to, but will hide it if you don't.

    I for one would greatly appreciate it,
    Sincerely,
    RD-aficionado

  • drg
    3:16 PM 24/08/2013

    This is the whole catch 22 thing, you mention the words; referee - cards and All Blacks, in one sentence and you get crucified by the Kiwi fans, but is it not actually a strong issue? Or are we all just a bit overzealous because they are number 1? If it was any other team would cards be shown? Would we question decisions if they were not shown?

    Same thing happens with the words; French - diving, the fans go mad...

    Is it a conspiracy that these topics come up regularly? I think not...I think it's the truth...

  • spicksandspecks
    12:45 PM 24/08/2013

    All Blacks certainly the stronger side and deserved their win. Wallabies started well but fell into same pattern of poor scrums and line-outs, together with knock-ons and turnovers at critical stages.
    Having said that, refereeing was woeful. No side will be able to beat the All Blacks if their continual professional fouls are not yellow carded. Reversed penalty was a joke - the pull was about 30m away from the play! Also the final obstruction penalty happened after an All Blacks player did exactly the same thing from their box kick 30s before. What is it with Sth African refs and friendly refereeing at All Blacks home matches?

  • upthelowend
    11:51 AM 24/08/2013

    The officials seemed distinctly one sided in my eyes! Some appalling decisions made. I feel that Australia could've had a better game if, at the few points that they had the ball, span it out wide. O'Connor and Folau must've had maybe 6 or 7 touches between them! They kept running forward phases over and over, as if all they wanted to do was retain possession for as long as possible but got killed at so many breakdowns. Don't even get me started on the scrums... Clearly Moore didn't take his own advice and learn how to hook.

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