Sun 16 Aug 2015 | 06:03
New Zealand hold onto Bledisloe Cup with punishing win over Australia

11
Comments

The All Blacks put last week's defeat at the hands of the Wallabies well and truly behind them as they turned things on in emphatic fashion at Eden Park in Auckland, winning 41-13 to hold on to the Bledisloe Cup for yet another year. They have held the trophy since 2003.

Australia came out the blocks looking like they had a realistic chance of a fortress Eden Park upset, but midway through the first half the game changed complexion, and it was one way traffic from there on.

Dane Coles scored a thrilling, length of the field effort that included some vintage Dan Carter running, and a highly impressive step, sprint and fend from the mobile hooker.

There were other moments of brilliance too, with Nehe Milner-Skudder showing his quick feet and brilliant offloading ability, as well as some of the tight forwards combining to set Ma'a Nonu away for one of his two tries on the night.

In the end it was five tries to one, scored by outstanding Israel Folau late in the game, as the All Blacks laid down a marker for anyone looking to challenge them at the Rugby World Cup.

Nonu and Conrad Smith, the long-serving midfield combo, showed that they should be Steve Hansen's first picks, despite the obvious temptation to select Sonny Bill Williams. Such is the depth of New Zealand rugby right now (always..), is that it's a problem he will welcome when planning for his World Cup meetings with Argentina, Tonga, Georgia and Namibia.

As for the Rugby Championship winning Wallabies, this was a lesson that Michael Cheika will need to learn from, as the changes made to the previous week's side simply didn't pay dividends. And Quade Cooper's Eden Park hoodoo continued.

11 Comments

  • oldflyhalf
    11:26 PM 19/08/2015

    I think that the "black 13" should be suspended for life. ...:(

  • mattyp
    2:08 AM 19/08/2015

    @whiteafrican. I did ref for quite a while. I was taught to, and did, penalize it whenever I saw it on the basis that it's presumably an attempt to collapse, and just generally dangerous play under 10.4(k). Even during the ELVs, which allowed collapsing a maul legally - by pulling it down - did not allow

  • nathj
    8:37 PM 18/08/2015

    I just hope Milner-Skudder is fit and selected for the World Cup. Love watching him with the ball

  • drg
    8:22 PM 17/08/2015

    If you're right then thank you for educating me, I was always under the impression you were not allowed to lift a leg in a maul, but if this isn't the case then it might make things a lot easier in the future..

  • whiteafrican
    3:47 PM 17/08/2015

    @MattyP - I'm pretty sure that there is nothing in the Laws that explicitly prohibits lifting a leg in a maul (certainly nothing in Law 17). The reason we often see it penalised is that it involves either: (i) an illegal bind (doesn't appear to be what McCaw did, since his shoulders were above his hips and he bound first and then lifted the leg); or (ii) an attempt to collapse the maul (again, not what McCaw did, since he drove the player upward and back, and did not drop him). Any Refs around to confirm?

  • drg
    11:34 AM 17/08/2015

    Not when you're wearing black and certainly not when you're Richie McCaw...

  • katman
    11:32 AM 17/08/2015

    Polished performance by the Kiwis. Carter is as sharp as ever. And Dan Coles really doesn't look like he should be as fast as he is. Very deceptive.

  • mitch_tickler
    11:03 AM 17/08/2015

    For the life of me I can't understand why Ceika changed his winning side (to me they felt like they were starting to gel) Cheika knew that New Zealand would be a different beast at Home (eden Park)... The Aussies still have a match against the USA Eagles soon to field an experimental side... I did feel for Quade Cooper... Cooper will probably go to League if left out of the Australian RWC side...

  • mattyp
    10:28 AM 17/08/2015

    Yes by lifting a leg - dangerous play and a potential yellow card offence.

  • rememberthemer
    5:56 AM 17/08/2015

    Ahh Mr McCaw. At 2 mins he single handedly stops a 5 man rolling mall. Aus has crap ball as a result, Whitelock gets the turn over ... Coles scores. He's been so influential in so many ways for so long. We'll be in shit when he retires.

  • 45678
    9:24 PM 16/08/2015

    A good reason why the abs win most of the time is because they consistently field their strongest side. Every other country still doesn't know their best xv or is messing about giving second string players more game time than they currently deserve. They will gain better experience being a new cap in a team of 14 experienced players, than one of 7/8 newbies, so please stop dicking around with selection