The Rugby Championship title and Bledisloe Cup aren’t this year’s pinnacle prizes but retaining those trophies represents the All Blacks’ brick by brick building mantra in World Cup year.
The All Blacks’ performance to humble the Wallabies 38-7 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in front of an 83,994-strong crowd, the largest Australian rugby has witnessed in 20 years, wasn’t super stylish or overly impressive until their last-quarter blitz. Their breakdown work in particular will be a major focus for improvement.
Yet a third commanding victory this season is notable for the confidence it will continually grow within a squad that endured extreme adversity last year.
The All Blacks are, indeed, back with vengeance.
Where the All Blacks started strongly in wins over the Pumas and Springboks, this time they finished powerfully with three tries in the final quarter thanks to telling impact from the bench.
This was a patience personified approach.
The All Blacks extending their unbeaten run to 10 matches means New Zealand can rest easy that the economy is not about to collapse, either.
Wallabies coach Eddie Jones certainly has much more pressing concerns after watching his battling side suffer a third straight defeat while extending their losing streak to six tests against the All Blacks.
After all the smack talk, this was a humiliating defeat for Jones to heap further pressure on his teetering tenure and shine a light on the folly of sacking Dave Rennie on the eve of the World Cup.
This blowout ensures the Bledisloe will reside in New Zealand for a 21st year in a row. The first unbeaten Rugby Championship – albeit the truncated version – since 2017 is another reflection of the All Blacks’ progress.
Despite the result suggesting otherwise, the All Blacks didn’t have it all their own way. Before the Wallabies conceded their second yellow card, to prop Taniela Tupou, the All Blacks were made to work hard for their points to grind their way to a 19-7 halftime lead.
When the Wallabies and All Blacks unloaded their benches, though, the contest took a notable turn. By that point the Wallabies were out on their feet after a gallant defensive effort. Anton Lienert-Brown, Caleb Clarke and Samisoni Taukei’aho made their presence felt as the All Blacks lifted through the gears to blow the Wallabies away.
Scott Barrett delivered another standout performance. From the outset he handed the All Blacks another dream start with a crunching hit on Wallabies halfback Tate McDermott to jolt the ball loose for Shannon Frizell to score. From there, though, the Wallabies immediately responded through powerful No 8 Rob Valetini.
As they did against the Springboks, the All Blacks savoured short contestable kicks to exploit space with Will Jordan the frequent target.
The Wallabies' tactic of stacking their forward pack with size to challenge the All Blacks breakdown brought rewards. Sam Cane’s absence was telling in this regard – his underrated ability to clean big bodies was missed as the Wallabies won several turnover penalties. Even when these weren’t forthcoming the Wallabies often made Aaron Smith’s life difficult by creating slow, scrappy ball.
While the breakdown battle was highly contested the All Black pack had the upper hand at the scrum, where they intentionally held the ball in to win several penalties, and the maul where Codie Taylor claimed their second try.
Defensively the All Blacks repelled two second-half Wallabies mauls near their line that left Ian Foster applauding from the coaching box.
Rookie Wallabies first five-eighth Carter Gordon, promoted to start for the first time, endured an underwhelming 50-minute stint that included two shanked bombs, a missed penalty from in front of the sticks and a botched restart.
Gordon’s struggles, and a yellow card to Marika Koroibete forced the Wallabies on the backfoot, but their goal line defence was staunch until fatigue set in late.
Mark Telea didn’t get everything right. He tried to spark the All Blacks with a quick tap, only to lose the ball forward in the process, but his intent to go looking for work off his left wing and beat defenders with deception set up Jordan’s strike on halftime.
And in the second half when the match opened up, Telea shone in space to lock down the left wing spot.
With one test in Dunedin next week before naming their World Cup squad, the All Blacks are again an ominous sight.
All Blacks 38 (Shannon Frizell, Codie Taylor, Will Jordan, Caleb Clarke, Mark Telea, Rieko Ioane tries; Richie Mo’unga 4 cons), Wallabies 7 (Rob Valetini try; Carter Gordon con). Halftime: 19-7.
