The All Blacks pose with the Bledisloe Cup after their narrow win over the Wallabies. Photo / AP
The All Blacks pose with the Bledisloe Cup after their narrow win over the Wallabies. Photo / AP
OPINION:
Resilience doesn't quite do justice to what the All Blacks had to show to win the single most dramatic, eventful and memorably brilliant game of 2022.
How they escaped with the win will remain something of a mystery for weeks to come. It took courage, composure, belief and anincredible decision by referee Mathieu Raynal to effectively reverse a penalty for the Wallabies when he deemed Bernard Foley took too long to boot it into touch.
Who even knew that a referee could do that? Determine that someone was time wasting and turn a pressure-relieving and likely match-winning penalty for the Wallabies into what became a match-winning scrum for the All Blacks.
Drama like this is hard to write and almost harder to believe because the plot was unimaginably complex and riddled with so many twists as to create a sense of disbelief at what was happening.
And because of the unpredictability of it all, the ebb and flow that sometimes made little sense, it's hard to know what to make of the All Blacks' performance.
We have to start with the fact that they won and given the season they have had, that's a gold star right there. The victory in Melbourne is of course the first time this year they have strung consecutive victories together in 2022 and that is a small mercy to celebrate.
But the way the All Blacks went about their business for much of the game, suggested the victory was symbolic of something more than simply breaking a pattern.
The All Blacks pose with the Bledisloe Cup after their narrow win over the Wallabies. Photo / AP
There were periods when the All Blacks patiently, expertly and systematically dismantled the Wallabies and ran them ragged just like old times.
And yet there were also periods, where the Wallabies did the same to them and while that made for an enthralling contest, a gripping game of open rugby that the rest of the world will have admired from afar, it also creates a little doubt about the mental steadiness of the All Blacks.
So much can be forgiven because they pulled off the miracle victory at the death, but they shouldn't have been in that sort of pickle by that stage of the game.
Their biggest failing on the night was to not capitalise on the momentum when they had it. They had the Wallabies reeling in the first 10 minutes, but after scoring 10 points the All Blacks suddenly drifted out of the game and opened the door for Australia to grind their way back in.
It was the same in the second half when the Wallabies were down to 13 men. The All Blacks sensed they had them in trouble, opened the game up, backed themselves to run into space and drive the scoreboard in their favour.
And they were right, because they did run the Wallabies off their feet in that period and score one try. But they had a golden opportunity to score another and go 24-10 ahead, but Hoskins Sotutu chose to kick ahead when there were three men outside him.
There was a certain amount of hubris connected to his decision to kick – as a simple pass would have most likely seen the All Blacks score.
But for some reason Sotutu wanted to show he could kick when he needed to pass and his vanity was costly – with the Wallabies restored to full strength, they kicked a penalty and then stormed back into the game in the final quarter to lead 37-34.
And that was the story of the All Blacks' night to some degree: they had great periods but they weren't able to bury the Wallabies when they had the chance.
All Blacks coach Ian Foster celebrates with Dane Coles and George Bower. Photo / AP
Another game, another opponent and under another referee – that may have proven costlier than it was, but for now, the courage that the All Blacks showed to stay in the fight and then land the killer blow is the thing to enjoy.
That and the certainty that the chaotic nonsense produced by the All Blacks in Dunedin back in July, the insipid and meek performance in Mbombela and the falling apart in Christchurch, seem like dark and distant memories now.
The All Blacks are a different team – tougher, organised, more confident and above all else, more certain about what they are trying to do.
They are still very much a work in progress, but there is clearly something there to build on: something more solid and believable than what they were showing a few months ago.
