Jordie Barrett celebrates with teammates after scoring the game-winning try. Photo / AP
Jordie Barrett celebrates with teammates after scoring the game-winning try. Photo / AP
It wasn't always easy to tell where the All Blacks' heads were at during their epic Bledisloe win, but in the final minute, when they were dramatically and sensationally awarded a scrum five metres from the Wallabies try-line, they were mentally in precisely the right place.
The instant referee MathieuRaynal made what many believe was an unprecedented decision to penalise the Wallabies for time-wasting with just one minute of the game left, the All Blacks' leaders were huddled and planning.
They made a couple of smart realisations – the first being that the referee was not to be trusted and the second, was that a draw was no good to them and therefore a dropped goal was off the table.
The plan was therefore hatched to get the ball out of the scrum as quickly as possible and to then commit the Wallabies defence to the middle of the field by using the forwards to pick and drive until there was an opportunity to exploit the inevitable space out wide.
"We decided that we didn't want to leave anything up to chance with the ref around the scrum," said All Blacks first-five Richie Mo'unga.
"We wanted to get the ball in and out and impose ourselves on them. We did exactly that and we ended up getting the advantage which gave us a licence to have a free crack."
Jordie Barrett celebrates with teammates after scoring the game-winning try. Photo / AP
What happened in full detail is that Akira Ioane picked up from the base of the scrum as quickly as he could and made two metres running to the right.
There were three more pick and drives, before Dane Coles bashed to within a few inches of the try-line and the ball was recycled, albeit slowly, to Mo'unga, who passed to Will Jordan, who managed to offload to Jordie Barrett to dive over in the corner to win the game.
It was calm, composed, accurate, clinical rugby under incredible pressure and left a confused picture about the All Blacks, who had been mentally frail at other times in the game, most obviously when they didn't capitalise on a 31-13 lead with 20 minutes to play.
"Tonight is a really good example of the moments," said Mo'unga. "Pete Samu scored a try, so that was one of their moments, and I kicked the ball out on the full, so that was another one because that let them back into the game and led to another try.
"The pleasing thing is that is something we can control. We have a lot of things to work on, but we will take that."
All Blacks captain Sam Cane and his teammates celebrate after winning the Bledisloe Cup. Photo / Photosport
The All Blacks players were also happy to take the controversial decision by Raynal, who did what no other referee has ever done and actually punished a team for time wasting.
The decision obviously incensed the Australians who thought the clock had been stopped and therefore Bernard Foley was within his rights to take as much time as he did to kick the ball out.
None of Mo'unga, Rieko Ioane nor Brodie Retallick had ever seen anything like that before, but the latter was supportive of the referee.
"I haven't seen it, but I also applaud him," said Brodie Retallick. "He was telling them to play the ball and to hurry and I guess I applaud him for making a big call in a moment like that because I guess it wasn't easy."
There's no doubt that one decision had an enormous influence on the outcome and was the giant stroke of luck that the All Blacks needed to rescue a game they should really have put away much earlier.
But despite the dramas and the difficulties that the All Blacks inflicted on themselves in the final quarter by dropping off one-on-one tackles and losing their discipline too often at the lineout and tackled ball, Ioane says there is now a foundation of confidence within the team and that the adversity they have encountered this year has made them stronger.
"Individually there is that confidence and if individuals are confident then collectively there is going to be confidence. Win, lose or draw there is no other team that I would rather go to battle with and smooth seas don't make a skilled sailor."
