The All Blacks needed a late surge to beat the Wallabies. Photo / Getty Images
The All Blacks needed a late surge to beat the Wallabies. Photo / Getty Images
All Blacks 23
Wallabies 20
OPINION:
It took almost 80 minutes, and the injection of the seasoned veterans on the bench, but the All Blacks got the job done in Dunedin courtesy of a second-half surge that built just enough momentum to squeeze home with the win.
Itwas the All Blacks scrum that turned out to be the hero of the hour, finally coming right in the second half to exact crushing pressure that yielded a steady supply of penalties – the last of which Richie Mo’unga banged over from 40 metres to steal the game in the 80th minute.
Sam Whitelock was the other hero, delivering, in his last test on home soil, precisely the sort of performance his illustrious career deserved.
He was a one-man show at the breakdown in the second half, defying his 2.03m to curl himself into the tightest of balls to time and again steal turnover ball that he had no business stealing.
It was vintage Whitelock, a performance that said he wants to be a starter in this team, and a performance that the All Blacks needed. They had drifted through the first half with little cohesion or flow and at 17-3 down, they needed a figure to grab the game.
Whitelock was the spark to get them going, and once he had instilled a little confidence, Ardie Savea came to life as did Samipeni Finau, who had the sort of debut that suggests he’s worth taking the World Cup and probably the right guy to take over from Shannon Frizell who won’t be around next year.
Just like last week, this was a performance that had patience and resilience at the heart of it.
It was never pretty or overly clever. In the first half it was clunky and misguided – tactically not quite right with too much ball kicked away - and nor did it have that calm, smooth assuredness that started to build in the second half.
But the fact the All Blacks were able to claw their way back from being 14 points down, get their scrum back to full power and find a way to get past a Wallabies side that was a different kettle of fish to the one they had been in Melbourne, bodes well for what is about to come.
There is now strong leadership and belief in this All Blacks team. They have the personnel and experience to scrap it out, to stay in the moment and find the right plays with the right execution at the right times and that is a huge part of what test rugby is all about.
Shaun Stevenson dives over to score on debut. Photo / photosport.nz
That they have won four from four in 2023 must have generated some sense of things being properly right.
They have been tested in all sorts of different ways now and each time they have found a way to cope, to dig out the win, and so this revival of theirs is maybe not so superficial.
So too can they be confident that there is a depth of personnel at their disposal now which says they should be able to cope with injuries or any other dramas should they occur at the World Cup.
They were a bit of a rabble in the first half. They couldn’t get their scrum engagement right – the timing was off, and the Wallabies were back to their old tricks of cleverly playing the officials and winning penalties they perhaps didn’t deserve.
There was also a general sloppiness about the All Blacks. They were a bit hurried in their pass and catch, almost a little panicky at times and the steady, pound away at them approach through multiple phases which has worked so well in recent weeks was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, it was all a bit frantic, a vibe that emanated from Damian McKenzie, who as playmaker-in-chief was back to being the fly in the wine bottle.
He wanted to get the game moving, to get the All Blacks playing at speed, but they need to be accurate for that to happen.
Which they weren’t. But once Mo’unga came on and calmed things down, and Whitelock went all inspirational, the machine kicked into gear and the new boys started to make more of an impact and the All Blacks went back to looking like the All Blacks.
