John Drake: Wallabies need fresh ideas or they're a busted Cup flush

Australia won't get any better before next year's World Cup. The All Blacks can. That's the big message out of the last few weeks of Bledisloe Cup rugby.

I believe the likes of George Gregan, Stirling Mortlock and Stephen Larkham will not improve markedly before France next September.

Contrast them with Piri Weepu/Byron Kelleher, Daniel Carter, Aaron Mauger and Mils Muliaina. Throw in a revitalised Joe Rokocoko and maybe Sitiveni Sivivatu and the gulf becomes more pronounced.

I wonder if Eden Park witnessed the dying threshings of this Wallaby team.

Make no mistake, they were playing for their lives on Saturday night.

They gave it everything, crossing the legal boundaries frequently as they sought to stifle Richie McCaw's effectiveness, and still came up well short.

In the long run, this test might prove a telling experience for both camps.

No one would be foolish enough to write off the Wallabies' chances next year, but I suspect they have reached a plateau, and without injecting fresh ideas and personnel they will struggle to win the Webb Ellis Cup.

I'm all in favour of full-blooded rugby contests, and in many respects I really enjoyed the confrontational aspects of the test, not to mention the quality of the tries by both sides.

But without question Australia were out of order with many of their attempts to squeeze McCaw out of the equation.

There's nothing wrong in targeting a player you believe can cause you big problems. Australia made no secret that they would set out to pin Michael Jones at the bottom of a ruck. It's the same with McCaw. Keep him occupied and lessen the damage he can do.

But Australia used cheap shots at Eden Park.

How Phil Waugh did not get cited for his swinging arm on McCaw beats me. The touch judge was right there. Now Waugh is not a dirty player in my book. George Smith, by contrast, has a recidivist tendency.

Then take Rocky Elsom, who could be an outstanding footballer but at the moment has a default mechanism somewhere in his makeup.

He gave away several penalties in the first half alone. He needs to get streetwise to become really effective.

As for Lote Tuqiri's tackle on McCaw, it was dangerous and deserved punishment, but to a degree it was one of those moments that can happen.

I doubt Tuqiri was planning serious damage to McCaw, but when the passion and adrenalin are running it's the sort of thing that can get out of hand.

And the bottom line is you've always got to wonder what might have happened. We might easily have seen a stretcher on the park.

There were several moments which stick in my mind for their class and which made this test special.

Take Matt Giteau's marvellous kick through for Tuqiri's second try; or the All Blacks' swift and sure handling from one side of the park to the other for Jack's crucial try; or Carter's telling tackle on Larkham which made the win safe; or that terrific, controlled rolling maul after cleanly won lineout ball from Rodney So'oialo, leading to Jason Eaton's try.

On the lineouts, whatever Robin Brooke did during the week worked. I suspect he kept things simple. In fact I'd be surprised if he tried to introduce much at all.

He probably said things the players already knew but needed reminding of. Hearing them from a fresh, credible voice doesn't hurt.

It wasn't all rosy. The All Blacks missed 20 tackles and they were average in the first half. But how often do we beat the Wallabies 3-0?

I'll settle for that, and on this showing there is much to look forward to as this team grows over the next year.