Injured All Blacks search for positives
New Zealand captain Richie McCaw said his team will look for positives from their narrow 20-25 defeat to Australia in the Tri-Nations decider in Brisbane on Saturday.
The Wallabies downed the All Blacks by three tries to two to claim their first Tri-Nations crown in 10 years.
The Wallabies have not lifted the southern hemisphere crown since John Eales’s team won in 2001.
The Wallabies’ ferocity took its toll on the All Blacks, with No.8 Kieran Read replaced with a left ankle injury – while the skipper, McCaw, played on after treatment to his lower back.
New Zealand’s problems were compounded further when flank Adam Thomson came off just before half-time with an elbow injury to be replaced by Ali Williams.
It was a bitter defeat for the Kiwis, just a fortnight out from the World Cup, which they will host.
“We’ll use that as a positive,” McCaw said, when questioned about his team’s back-to-back Test defeats – having also suffered a 5-18 loss to South Africa in Port Elizabeth a week earlier.
“Those are the type of situations we will be in [at the World Cup] and we have to learn from that.”
McCaw said he was proud of the way his team fought back, after trailing 3-20 at the half-time break, to draw level at 20-all – before conceding a try inside the final quarter that handed the win to the Wallabies.
“For a lot of that the guys stood up in the second half, but if we want to win going forward we can’t afford to come from behind.”
It was Australia’s second win over the All Blacks in their last three meetings, after they downed Graham Henry’s team 26-24 in Hong Kong last October.
It was the Wallabies’ first victory over the All Blacks in Brisbane for 19 years.
“Congratulations to Australia. I thought they played very well for long periods in the game and to win the Tri-Nations’ trophy contested by the three top teams in the world is a major achievement,” Henry said.
“We’re disappointed in the way we started the game, proud of the way the guys came back in the second half, but it wasn’t quite enough.”
