Wallabies fall short as All Blacks hold off comeback, but the trans-Tasman test is a battle again
It’s gone for a 22nd straight year, but the Bledisloe Cup is a contest again, with the Wallabies falling agonisingly close of a miracle comeback in Sydney.
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It’s gone for a 22nd straight year, but the Bledisloe Cup is a contest again, with the Wallabies falling agonisingly close of a miracle comeback in Sydney.
The All Blacks reclaimed the trophy with a 31-28 victory, having led 31-14 and dominating the first 60 minutes of the game.
But a plucky Wallabies side, beaten by a record score in their previous game, showed the fighting spirit that suggests coach Joe Schmidt is making the necessarily quick adjustments to make them a top five nation again.
In a frantic final quarter, Australia nearly snatched an impossible win as the All Blacks were reduced to 13 men and wave after wave of attack was either repelled or killed by breakdown turnovers.
With 30 seconds remaining, Hunter Paisami took a kick-off, beat two defenders, but then ran into Ardie Savea and TJ Perenara, who held him up, forcing another turnover.
From the scrum, the Kiwis kicked the ball out, holding on to the Bledisloe, which they claimed in 2003 and haven’t let go since.
The crowd of 68,061, featuring several All Blacks fans but an impressive number of gold-clad faithful, exhaled for different reasons after the thrilling finish.
They conceded 50 points in the second half against Argentina in their 67-27 defeat in Sante Fe, but the Wallabies won this second half 14-3.
A Tom Wright try in the 79th minute brought the Wallabies back to within three points at 31-28.
But this wasn’t to be.
It was 28-14 at half-time but the Kiwis were celebrating a try to Jordie Barrett on the half-time siren, only for the television match officials to cancel it for an earlier knock on.
So Australia trailed by just 14 points at the break, when it felt as though they’d been a 25-point lesser team.
Barrett injured himself crossing out wide for the non-try, and didn’t make it out for the second half, replaced by Anton Lienert-Brown.
McKenzie opened the scoring in the second with a 45th minute penalty.
The game went stale for the next 20 minutes, with the All Blacks blowing numerous try-scoring chances while the Wallabies made their own blunders.
But suddenly, the game sparked to life when a Lukhan Salakaia-Loto break eventually led to a Paisami try in the 65th, with Lienert-Brown also sin-binned for repeated infringement.
At 31-21, it was barely believable the Wallabies were two scores away from winning.
And the stadium erupted when Fraser McReight made a break downfield the following minute, but yet again the All Blacks produced a breakdown turnover close to their line to shut down hopes.
Clarke was sin-binned for a deliberate knockdown in the 72nd, leaving the contest 15 on 13.
But Andrew Kellaway knocked on from the next attacking play, so the try Len Ikitau thought he scored was called back.
Jeremy Williams went for a try in the 76th minute, but the Kiwis forced another turnover penalty to escape the danger zone.
The Wright’s try set up the tense finale.
It shouldn’t have been this close.
It took just 95 seconds for Will Jordan to breeze through a clueless Wallabies defensive line to score.
In the ninth, Kiwi halfback Cortez Ratima dummied his way through and a wide pass allowed Rieko Ioane to cross out wide.
In the 15th, it was Caleb Clarke scoring – having just intercepted a pass from Harry Wilson – then backing up as the All Blacks went right and then back to the left where the winger powered through.
At 21-0, Wallabies fans in the stadium either shook their head, stared into space, or searched their phones for the half-time train schedule.
But there was a brief reason to pause on those plans when McReight scored Australia’s opener in the 18th, with Rob Valetini winning the ball at the back of a lineout and finding halfback Nic White unmarked on the inside channel.
White cut through and found McReight inside for an easy try.
But typical of the theme, McReight produced a brilliant 50-22 kick from a turnover deep in their own half. Then the Wallabies lost the lineout. Moments later, Sevu Reece made a break, and found Ardie Savea inside for an easy stroll under the posts. That made it 28-7 after 25 minutes.
Four minutes before the break, the Wallabies found their second try when hooker Matt Faessler crashed over from a lineout play.
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