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Sun 18 Aug 2013 | 07:59
The All Blacks crush the Wallabies in Bledisloe One in Sydney

24
Comments

Ben Smith scored a hat-trick as the All Blacks gave new Wallaby coach Ewen McKenzie plenty to think about with a convincing 47-29 win in the Rugby Championship opener in Sydney. Six tries to two proved the difference in what was a crushing victory.

The All Blacks started well with a try to Ben Smith in the corner, and despite Wallaby scrumhalf Will Genia scoring a sensational 75m effort from a lineout turnover, the visitors were never troubled.

While things were fairly evenly poised at 25-19 at the break, the second half was all about the All Blacks as they cruised to their 100th Test win over the Wallabies, who themselves improved the overall scoreline with a late consolation try to James O'Connor.

Aaron Cruden came in for injured Dan Carter and scored 20 points overall, while captain Richie McCaw looked as potent as ever, giving away a few penalties but being his usual menacing self.

"I am obviously very happy with the performance. It's not every day that you can come here and get 40-odd points. I thought both teams played good rugby," said All Blacks coach Steve Hansen.

"For Richie McCaw to get through 70 minutes after having his break and everyone doubting him just shows the character of the bloke once again, while Aaron Cruden showed that he's a true international player of world-class ability and he led the team very well."

It doesn't get any easier for the Wallabies, as next week the return match is in Wellington.

Enjoy the highlights and please let us know your thoughts on the match as a comment below. 

Posted By: Grant Constable

24 Comments

  • riccardo
    10:56 PM 03/09/2013

    Untrue Pedro.

    Quade is universally despised in Sydney as much as NZ and a number of posters on other sites have noted that the NSW crowds enjoyed giving him a towelling as well.

    This probably talks as much to the North-South rivalry as anything else.

    I Don't condone this behaviour personally but it's not going to stop till he puts some decent runs on the board and for me, his last decent match remains the 1st half of the Bledisloe encounter at Suncorp in 2011.

  • gopumas
    11:54 PM 24/08/2013

    Are you still thinking the same way?

  • 10:50 AM 23/08/2013

    Yeah DrG I saw that interview too. Quade getting pushed around like that. With forwards running into him and making him miss tackles. Weak excuse, he hasn't covered himself in glory. The booing has to stop though, unfortunately it won't which is really embarrassing for the majority of us kiwis.

  • drg
    10:51 PM 21/08/2013

    ....Did you read that article about dementia being linked to rugby? Perhaps that explains why I can't remember...

  • hendogo
    10:10 PM 20/08/2013

    Getting you ass beat like that doesn't make you a better team. Just like getting your ass beat by a bully doesn't
    make you a better person.

  • drg
    9:48 PM 19/08/2013

    Cooper vs NZ went back way before kneeing McCaw....

  • drg
    9:47 PM 19/08/2013

    Hmm I agree that NZ made lots of mistakes however I don't see them doing the same next week. Remember a short while ago when they played Ireland, the first test was one which sort of pleased the Irish, gave them faith that although they lost, they were still in with a good running going into the next test, they thought that they might actually have a chance of winning.....

    ....Second test they got demolished...

    Seems to be a typical NZ characteristic.. If they play badly, or at least let the other team have a few opportunities in one game, they aim to fix it for the next!

  • reality
    6:17 PM 19/08/2013

    I'd be more inclined to say the opposite. I think New Zealand badly beat a poor Australia, but South Africa badly beat a woefully bad Argentina. Any time South Africa got a maul going they scored a try, and Argentina just didn't seem up for it. I don't think SA scored too much from good, clever play that would work against better teams. I think they were made to look as good by the Argentinians as much as NZ were by the Australians. As someone posted on the other video, Argentina have gotten a hiding in loads of their recent matches - Tri-Nations aside. Even Ireland put 50-odd points on them in November, and Ireland are crap.

    In fairness, I do think SA seem better than they've been since 2009, and seem to have a backline that can run with the ball, which hasn't been the case for a long time. I'd still say the All Blacks are deserved favourites though. We'll see soon enough, I suppose.

  • rememberthemer
    2:55 PM 19/08/2013

    Actually, he was asked if he thought he would get a hostile reception after kneeing McCaw in the face. He replied that the crowd should "bring it on" and that he loved it. So the crowd brought it and he didn't love it, and he played like gack. So they brought it some more and he got even worse. He has become a figure of ridicule because there is such a massive deficit between his self-image and his actual level of performance when the heat is on.

    I personally wish they would stop booing because its childish in the extreme and fundamentally crap behaviour that demeans the boo-ers. It's also painful to watch Cooper shamble ineffectually through another big game with that haunted face.

    It has gotten to the point where its like clubbing a baby seal.

  • 2:25 PM 19/08/2013

    I think SA have the goods this year. I think they could be dangerous.

    I think at times terrible Oz mistakes made the ABs look good. (Like the ball popping out the scrum, a charged down kick, the ball popping out of the breakdown. All of these resulted in a Try to the ABs.)

    The ABs missed a lot more tackles than usual and their set pieces were all over the place. It will be interesting to see SA vs NZ at scrum time with the new rules.

    Don't get me wrong I think the ABs will work on their D and play a better game next week. But based on this Year's tests I don't think the ABs are any more a favourite to win this than SA.

  • drg
    12:38 PM 19/08/2013

    Ok, although it was 47-29, so it was well and truly and All Black victory, I don't know if anyone could consider that a great performance. Surely a team like the All Blacks would only be happy with a large points difference. 29 points is a lot to go past your defence...

    As usual I feel this is an AB competition to lose, they look the strongest and I don't see anyone claiming an AB scalp this year.

  • drg
    12:35 PM 19/08/2013

    I disagree, I think Quade Cooper was given a bit of stick and instead of burying his head in the sand he replied with a big "F**k you!" and naturally this was "disrespectful" and made the AB (fans) whinge and moan, (much like when teams front up to the Haka, and players like Nonu have humor failure)...

    Cooper was a younger guy who was getting pushed around and unlike many other young 10's he pushed back...

  • mastersa
    10:37 PM 18/08/2013

    Where would The Wallabies be without Genia. The ABS can only improve with a little reduction in error count.

  • hendogo
    10:33 PM 18/08/2013

    1. The Championship looks to be between South Africa and New Zealand this year. 2. The Wallabies need to find out what is wrong them and quick. The players they have (except Genia) just are not getting it done. 3. Argentina doesn't belong at this level of competition.

  • finedisregard
    10:17 PM 18/08/2013

    Dang, makes you wonder what the AB's would have done to the Lions. Three guys for New Zealand with the last name "Smith"?

  • kettlerugby
    4:31 PM 18/08/2013

    Still booing Quade Cooper...boring NZ fans...yawn

  • rugbydump
    1:18 PM 18/08/2013

    Yep, must have been thinking of Ben Smith's hat-trick so made the typo. Thanks for pointing it out.

    The scrums were indeed interesting..

  • benny
    12:43 PM 18/08/2013

    ABs will also be concerned that they conceded 29. Last year they turned around a 27-19 win in Sydney and pulled off 22-0 in Auckland the next week. They'll need to be more careful about their kickable penalty count and clean up the malfunctioning line out.

    McKenzie may be glad to get his two AB games out of the way early in the honeymoon then build for the next twelve months.

  • sr-dean
    11:37 AM 18/08/2013

    Abs looking good and can probably still improve. Can't see any silver linings for Australia.

  • 10:32 AM 18/08/2013

    Sorry make that 6 tries to 2.

  • welshosprey
    10:11 AM 18/08/2013

    Will RD even be able to show highlights from the south africa and argentina game?
    Graphic rape doesn't seem suitable for this site

  • pedro
    10:10 AM 18/08/2013

    6 tries to 2 actually...
    Interesting reception for Quade. Me thinks it wasn't just the kiwis in the crowd making the noise

  • 9:58 AM 18/08/2013

    I think the first half was an average performance from the Abs. Loads of handling errors. It was interesting seeing how these new scrum rules were interpreted. I think its going to prove rather difficult at scrum time for the "minnows" at the RWC.

    By the way RD it was 5 tries against 2. Not 3 against 2 as your summary suggests.

    Hopefully the Ab's will start looking a more cohesive unit before we play SA.

  • facepalm
    9:45 AM 18/08/2013

    #McKenzieOUT

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