The Wallabies were poor in the series opener Scarily the All Blacks were just as bad

There are two parts to the Wallabies’ 33-25 loss in the Bledisloe Cup opener that will make for a scary seven days in the lead-up to a must-win Test at Eden Park.

The first element that Dave Rennie will surely be wary of is the All Blacks’ overall performance. The result masked how poor New Zealand played for all bar the 20 minutes after half-time.

They made several uncharacteristic errors, conceding 10 turnovers to the Wallabies’ eight, and were ill-disciplined in key situations. Referee Paul Williams penalised the All Blacks 18 times. The Wallabies were penalised just nine times. The All Blacks pride themselves on winning both of those battles in every match they play.

Quality Wallabies sides have capitalised on those sorts of All Blacks performances in the past. When the Kiwis play near-perfect rugby â€" which they can do against the Wallabies, in particular â€" there is little any side in the world can do to change the result.

But that wasn’t the case on Saturday night. This was an opportunity to pinch the first win at Eden Park since 1986. The Wallabies weren’t close.

Apart from a brilliant set-piece try to Andrew Kellaway just before half-time, Rennie’s side barely fired a shot with ball in hand until the Test was run and won. That was the other element of the match which will be cause for concern for Rennie.

Complacency doesn’t sound like a trait any Wallabies team of the last 20 years should have to worry about but the Australians can’t fall into the trap of thinking three tries in the final 12 minutes will translate into any sort of fast start in another Eden Park Test on Saturday.

The Wallabies were left scratching their heads for answers after another loss at Eden Park.Credit:Getty

Scoring three tries in the final 12 minutes sounds great, in theory. In reality, the match was over with 23 minutes to play, when David Havili scored the home side’s third try.

The All Blacks uncharacteristically throttled down immediately after and were nowhere near as sharp in defence as Tom Banks nabbed a double and Jordan Uelese scored after the final siren.

All Blacks coach Ian Foster will ensure his team improves off that performance. While they won’t say anything like this publicly, privately they will concede they couldn’t have played much worse. That’s the scary part about the result.

The Wallabies must fix several elements of their game if they’re to snap the 35-year hoodoo at Eden Park in seven days time and keep the series alive.

Noah Lolesio’s goal-kicking is at the top of the list. The rising star was a sharpshooter off the kicking tee throughout the series win against France but he slotted just two from seven attempts on Saturday night.

At the half-time break, when the Wallabies trailed 16-8, Richie Mo’unga had nailed all his shots at goal. Lolesio missed a simple penalty goal and a conversion attempt which would have brought the margin back to 16-13.
By the end of the night, Lolesio left 12 points out there. Conditions weren’t perfect but it wasn’t good enough when the Wallabies didn’t have another goal-kicking option in the starting XV.

Up front, the set piece was inconsistent. It took the Wallabies four attempts to win a lineout. They eventually scored the try of the night off the back of a brilliant set-piece play but momentum early in the match was halted several times by a faulty lineout. The scrum battle was relatively even. Both sides struggled for consistency on that front.

While the defence wasn’t an issue overall, there were several key missed tackles in critical situations.
Harry Wilson missed Mo’unga in front on situations twice. While neither miss proved costly on the scoreboard, the second miss almost led to a 95-metre try of the year contender.

They’re little things but those little things must be perfect if beating the All Blacks is the goal.

Scarily, the All Blacks didn’t nail the little things, either. The home side arguably have more improvement in them than the Wallabies do. If the series opener is any guide, it will be at least another 12 months before the Bledisloe Cup is removed from its home in the New Zealand Rugby trophy cabinet and sent back to Australia.

Watch every match of the Bledisloe Cup and The Rugby Championship with live, ad-free and on-demand coverage starting on Saturday August 7 on Stan Sport.

Sam is a sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.

Share this post