Sweet revenge for All Blacks

Thrashed. The Wallabies were thrashed in the second half of the Bledisloe Test in Auckland's Eden Park on Saturday, and the Bledisloe Cup remains firmly rooted in New Zealand. There was much in the occasion to make the whole of New Zealand proud, and for the rest of the world to admire.

It was admirable the way this proud team played, recovering from last week's defeat in Sydney. It was a great occasion for some great players who were playing their last Tests in New Zealand – Dan Carter, Conrad Smith, Ma'a Nonu, Tony Woodcock and Keven Mealamu. But above all, there was the imposing figure of Richie McCaw, the most capped Test player in World Rugby.  He is arguably one of the best captains and players the world has seen. He was acknowledged by the 48 457 supporters (including his parents)  in the ground with a standing ovation in front of millions around the whole world, taking it all as calmly as ever – a true All Black.

But all that acknowledgement came at the end of an astonishing match.

The first half gave no hint of what was to come. The two teams walked out  together for the anthems. After the Haka Carter kicked off for an extraordinary match.

The All Blacks kicked a great deal and played with a series of short passes. The Wallabies scrum was strong and they ran with the ball at every opputunity. The intensity amongst the players was clear to see, bordering on fury.

The Wallabies scored first. The ball came back from a tackle/ruck to Nic White as aged Tony Woodcock was picking himself up. The ball struck Woodcock, the All Blacks were penalised and, amid boos, Quade Cooper goaled. 3-0 after six minutes.

The outstanding player of this half was Israel Folau, whose catching of Aaron Smith's many kicks was fearless and brilliant.  

Wycliff Palu went off side and Carter goaled. 3-3 after 17 minutes and the Wallabies got little look-in after this. They had a little bash with Will Skelton in the van but, about eight metres from his line, Sam Whitelock won a turnover on the New Zealand right. Immediately the All Blacks reverted to type and went wide left to Julian Savea as they raced downfield. Savea played inside to Carter on his own 10-metre line. Carter stepped inside James Horwill and reached the New Zealand 10-metre. With gold jerseys converging on him, Carter got a pass to Dane Coles on his right and the hooker raced 40 metres to score the try which changed the game. Carter converted. 10-3 after 23 minutes.

All Blacks tails were up and that was the start of the big victory, not as big as last year's 51-20, but comprehensive.

There was an unusual incident. There was a childish scuffle with Ma'a Nonu at the centre of Wallaby wrath when a water-carrier intervened to restore peace. The water-carrier was Liam Messam!

Sekope Kepu was penalised in a similar fashion to the penalty against Woodcock, and Carter made it 13-3 after 28 minutes. Then Conrad Smith tackled Adam Ashley Cooper in the air and Cooper, booed again, goaled. 13-6 after 30 minutes.

That was the half-time score, no hint at all of what was to come.

Quade Cooper it was who set the All Blacks on the victory surge. Including his gross high tackle which led to a penalty try. The All Blacks scored 21 points in six minutes in which he figured as part of the blame, first by his action and then by his absence.

Nehe Milner-Skudder stepped inside Dean Mumm and raced downfield. As the Wallabies converged he got a pass to Aaron Smith who headed for the posts when Cooper came flying in and seemed to have the intention of beheading him. The referee did not hesitate in awarding a penalty try and sending Cooper to the sin bin. Carter converted and suddenly the All Blacks were out to a 20-6 lead after 47 minutes.

Milner-Skudder caught a Matt Toomua chip, kicked downfield and chased. He got the ball back to Aaron Smith and the All Blacks went left. A great pass under pressure by Coles opened up the backs on the left and Nonu, with two men outside him, raced over for a try. 27-6.

The next score was not long in coming. Nonu broke to set up a close attack, he was back on his feet to send a long pass out to his right, to Conrad Smith who strolled over for a try. 34-6 after 53 minutes.

It was obvious that the All Blacks were going to win and both sides emptied their benches from now on so that everybody could go to the picnic. In fact the Wallabies substitutions started at half-time when they abandoned their bulk policy by bringing on David Pocock for Palu and Dean Mumm for Skelton. The change did not work.

The Wallabies had the first of three five-metre line-outs in the match but lost the line-out. The All Blacks broke out from a scrum in midfield, Aaron Smith went left, and Nonu ran through White and over for a try. 41-6 after 66 minutes.

Here endeth the New Zealand scoring.

But the Wallabies scored. New Zealand won a scrum and Kieran Read gave to TJ Perenara who kicked across the field to his right, but in came the magnificent Folau. He caught the ball and ran unimpeded for 60 metres to score a try which White converted. 41-13, which was the final score.

After the match, New Zealand honoured its leavers but above all honoured the great Richie McCaw. Coach Steven Hanson presented him with a commemorative jersey, describing him as an ordinary broke who achieved extraordinary things in the jersey. McCaw answered questions in his quiet, unemotional way saying of his All Black career: "I absolutely loved it."

Man of the Match: Richie McCaw

Moment of the Match: Dan Coles's try

Villain of the Match: Quade Cooper.

The scorers:

For New Zealand:

Tries: Coles, penalty try, Nonu 2, C Smith

Cons: Carter 5

Pens: Carter 2

For Australia:

Tries: Folau

Cons: White

Pens: Cooper 2

Yellow card: Quade Cooper (Australia, 48 – foul play, high tackle)

Teams

New Zealand: 15 Ben Smith, 14 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Victor Vito, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Tony Woodcock.

Replacements: 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Nepo Laulala, 19 Jerome Kaino, 20 Sam Cane, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Colin Slade, 23 Malakai Fekitoa.

Australia: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Henry Sleight, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Nic White, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 James Horwill, 4 Will Skelton, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore (captain), 1 Scott Sio.

Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 James Slipper, 18 Greg Holmes, 19 Dean Mumm, 20 Kane Douglas, 21 David Pocock, 22 Matt Giteau, 23 Kurtley Beale.

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

Assistant referees: Wayne Barnes (England), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)

TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)