Muted celebration for hard-fought Bledisloe win

New Zealand 30 Australia 13

Ali Williams leaned wearily against the corridor wall in the belly of the Telstra Stadium in Sydney.

The lock's economy of movement was matched by a lack of exuberance even though the All Blacks had just retained the Bledisloe Cup 30-13 against the Wallabies.

It was unusual for Williams, one of the All Blacks prepared to throw the odd quip about, to dabble in the media byplay which has become a part of the modern game.

But Williams' caution said much about the importance of the result, the pressure of the game and the All Blacks' state of mind.

They had regained their winning ways after conceding a 13-point start to the Wallabies, they had regrouped in Sydney after being unable to find that recipe in Cape Town.

They had mixed the brilliant with the brittle and they still had two more Tri-Nations contests to contemplate.

They also knew they had beaten a Wallaby side which had been so ravaged by injury that Chris Whitaker played at five-eighths for a while, Elton Flatley had a spell on the wing and Clyde Rathbone at centre.

Physically the All Blacks were shattered. They had expended plenty to retrieve a test where they made too many careless errors.

Williams' body language said as much and captain Tana Umaga revealed he had lain on the dressing-room floor for what seemed like an hour after the match.

After yielding the early lead, Umaga told his troops that defence was their best form of attack, their best method for getting some of the elusive possession with which the Wallabies had prospered.

If it was possible, Jerry Collins thumped the Wallabies even harder, Chris Jack monstered others, Keven Mealamu ferreted about and the rest followed.

Grass-cutting tackles came from backs such as Aaron Mauger or a chest-thumping clatter from Umaga. The All Blacks felt the pain but made sure the Wallabies felt it more.

"The team showed a huge amount of character and heart out there," coach Graham Henry said. "Maybe they wouldn't have handled it at other times."

That failure was evident just a week ago at Newlands where they were strangled by their own fragility and the muscle of the Springboks.

On Saturday the All Blacks had another hesitant start, they conceded a try to new Wallaby wonderboy Drew Mitchell, missed tackles and put themselves under pressure.

The lineout struggled against Daniel Vickerman, who did not seem affected by his contact lens problem, while referee Tony Spreadbury believed they transgressed more than the locals.

Daniel Carter kicked straight across field on attack, into touch, the backs ran straight into touch from another move, Carl Hayman knocked on with a certain try on offer.

The first quarter was a little ragged but the defence held before a Joe Rokocoko run changed the momentum and Piri Weepu barged over from the subsequent ruck in his first Bledisloe Cup test.

As the impetus of the match altered, the Wallabies began to lose players to injury and the All Blacks found better possession. Their scrum became more potent and the lineout healed itself.

At the end of the test they were behind in the statistics but held a significant numerical advantage after scoring 30 unanswered points. Under pressure they never stopped attacking although they made more try-scoring blunders than they would want in a series.

Hayman, Mauger, Rico Gear, Weepu, Rokocoko all wasted clear try-scoring chances.

It was an exasperating extravagance at international level and indicated how wide the talent gulf was between the sides.

Assistant coach Wayne Smith acknowledged the frustration.

"After the first 20 minutes it was important we created chances, it would have been easy to go into our shells," he said.

With only 15 minutes left the All Blacks were still only leading by a penalty. They needed a spark to kick clear.

In a move reminiscent of Zinzan Brooke in 1992 when he tapped a penalty and scored against the Boks at Ellis Park, openside flanker Richie McCaw repeated the ploy.

He wondered about the howls of indignation from rugby traditionalists for about a millisecond and then backed himself.

In an allegory for the sides' fortunes, McCaw aimed at Wallaby captain George Gregan, carried him and several other colleagues a metre and planted the ball across the stripe.

Gregan was benched, for blood, McCaw hailed as a hero. Game over, Bledisloe Cup retained, Tri-Nations title still a possibility.

On the stats sheet the All Blacks were well beaten.

They had to make 134 tackles to 83 (hence the fatigue), they made 14 errors to 8, they lost the ruck and maul area 94 to 71.

As Williams remarked, stats showed the All Blacks winning those areas in Newlands but they had been beaten in that game.

On Saturday, they prevailed because of some mesmeric brilliance, relentless defence and stronger resolve.