Bledisloe Cup 2020: All Blacks thrash Wallabies 27-7 in fiery contest, highlights, video
Australia's Eden Park hoodoo simply cannot be denied after yet another loss to the All Blacks in Auckland - but it's a horror statline that really left Wallabies coach Dave Rennie seething.
Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has threatened to wield the axe after Australia’s self-inflicted 27-7 loss to the All Blacks in Sunday’s second Bledisloe Cup test.
From the moment he took on the job, Rennie made a pledge to bring a new ruthless edge to the Wallabies by picking players on form and not reputation.
And if that means dropping players whenever they don’t live up to expectations, he’s already shown he won’t hesitate to make those cutthroat calls.
True to his word, Rennie made four changes after the Wallabies drew with New Zealand in last weekend’s opening test in Wellington so you can expect more when he sits down to select the side for the must-win third test in Sydney on October 31.
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Asked what he would do to solve the glaring Australian defensive problems that saw the Wallabies miss a whopping 40 tackles, Rennie’s curt response cut straight to the point.
“Selection can sometimes fix that, can’t it? he said.
Just who will say the price remains to be seen because so many Australian players were guilty of missing tackles during the match – killing any hope the Wallabies had of ending their 34-year hoodoo at Eden Park.
All the improvement the Wallabies made in Wellington counted for zilch as the All Blacks easily punched holes in the Australian defence, with Caleb Clarke and Ardie Savea having a field day.
Clarke is a superstar in the making – a giant winger already drawing comparisons with the legendary Jonah Lomu – but the Wallabies made life easy for the Kiwis by coughing up possession 20 times then blowing two try scoring opportunities that would have got them back into the contest.
“It’s pretty simple,” Rennie said.
“If you turn the ball over against the All Blacks and you don’t defend well then you’re going to get hurt because they’ve got some good athletes and that’s pretty much the tale today.
“We had some opportunities in the second half to score and if we’d taken them maybe we were in the race but it was not to be.”
All is not lost for the Wallabies just yet.
They can still regain the Bledisloe Cup if they win the two remaining matches in Australia but it will take a massive turnaround because this was a crushing defeat.
The 20-point loss was a giant leap forward from last year’s 36-0 humiliation in Auckland but no less depressing because the Wallabies were their own worst enemies.
“They were better this week, they raised the bar and got ahead of us,” Wallabies captain Michael Hooper said.
“We’ll go back home now, get a few days off and regroup. We’re building. A bit of a hit to the confidence there today but we’ll go again.”
No-one should be surprised the All Blacks lifted their game because they always do after a loss or a draw, but the Wallabies still had their chances.
After giving up an early try to halfback Aaron Smith, the Wallabies went to the break trailing 10-7 after open side flanker Ned Hanigan – one of Australia’s best players after being recalled to the side for the first time in nearly two years – set up the team’s only try.
Marika Koroibete scored out wide after Hanigan had made the initial bust when he split the defence but the Wallabies failed to go on with the job in the second half after losing Matt Toomua to a groin injury.
Jordan Petaia showed some real flashes of individual brilliance when he came on to replace Toomua but the Australian defence fell to pieces as Jordie Barrett, Savea and the New Zealand skipper Sam Cane ran in three quick tries in an 11-minute blitz just after the restart and the Australians missed their chances to reply, with winger Marika Koroibete held up over the line then hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa pinged for a double movement.
“In typical Aussie fashion, they did not roll over. We had a little rich period of about or so minutes after halftime which we’re really pleased with because it was the focus after the break,” Cane said.
“We managed to hang in there. It would have been nice to put a few more on them but that’s test footy.”
