Wallabies smashed by All Blacks as Allan Alaalatoa suffers serious injury
A second-half smashing from the All Blacks was made worse for the Wallabies after an injury to their captain.
A potential Achilles injury to co-captain Allan Alaalatoa which could dash his World Cup dream added a heavy dose of salt in to the Wallabies’ ever-open Bledisloe Cup wounds amid a second-half smashing from the All Blacks at the MCG.
The 38-7 defeat creates the all-too-real prospect of Eddie Jones taking the Wallabies to the World Cup without a victory to start his second tenure given a return-clash with the Kiwis in Dunedin and a clash with the hosts are their final matches before heading the tournament in France.
Alaalatoa’s forward pack replacement, Taniela Tupou, also left the field early in his first Test for the year as a bold Australian effort led by outstanding efforts from Rob Valetini and Angus Bell, as well as Marika Koroibete, resulted in just a single try as the Kiwis blasted the game open in the final 40 minutes to continue two decades of trans-Tasman dominance.
“We’ve let down Eddie, we’ve let down Australia,” Bell said in the aftermath.
“It’s hard, we work so hard,. They are a great team and to beat them you have to be brilliant.”
In front of more than 83,000 people, the largest Wallabies crowd in 20 years, the youngest starting line-up ever wheeled out by Jones showed the energetic signs he and long-suffering Australians fans had been wanting on the path to the World Cup which had so far delivered only despair..
But a combination of unrelenting, brickwall Kiwi defence, a series of turnovers in scoring positions in the second-half fro the Wallabies, as well as two yellow-cards as discipline issues continued, and then some scintillating ball running from the All Blacks helped them overpower the Australians, scoring six tries and a seventh-straight victory.
It was a deflating end to a night which started with promise.
For 24 golden minutes at the MCG there was even a ring of belief in the 15 men in Wallabies jerseys and the packed stands that Jones’ forecast “shock” was on.
The scoreboard read 7-5 in favour of the bullish, energetic, fast moving home team who were as feverish in defence as they were pushing the ball through the usually impenetrable All Blacks line.
It was only one try apiece, the Wallabies’ five-pointer coming under the posts after a review for a try out wide was denied and referee Wayne Barnes decided to have a look at Rob Valetini’s preceding effort which got the green light.
Despite rookie five-eight Carter Gordon’s battles with the swirly MCG wind, which was pushing his golden mullet around as much as his wayward attempts at long kicks, there was a “can they do it” murmur building around the sporting colosseum.
The Wallabies even held on for nearly all the 10 minutes superstar winger Koroibete, who dished out the hit of the night on his All Blacks counterpart Mark Telea to force one of a trio of early turnovers, spent on the sidelines after a deliberate off-side penalty.
But then a pushover try from Kiwi hooker Codie Taylor, which came after another try-saving tackle from recalled fullback Andrew Kellaway, 24 minutes after the Wallabies had taken the lead, was the reward for increased All Blacks dominance which started to take a toll.
The Australians had absorbed pressure, tried to counter-attack with backline runners getting to and through the defensive line, but the Kiwis were slowing finding their groove.
A Gordon miskick from the restart handed the All Blacks possession on the halfway line. Alaalatoa went down in the scrum with his injury, and even though Koroibete returned to the field, the Kiwis went up a gear.
Even the halftime siren didn’t slow them down as a massive 21-phase push resulted in a 42nd minute try for the All Blacks, their third, through prolific winger Will Jordan.
It was his 23 try in his 23rd Test, and the halftime score line was suddenly 19-7, the Wallabies having not got close to their own line since that 11th minute Valetini try.
The Australians then completely crumbled in the second 40 minutes as Jones rang the changes for no effect as the All Blacks ran in three more tries, toying with the Wallabies at times, to ensure their stranglehold on the Bledisloe Cup would continue for a 22nd straight year.
Australia 7
Tries: Valetini
Goals: Gordon 1/1 conversions, 0/1 penalties
New Zealand 38
Tries: Frizell, Taylor, Jordan, Clarke, Telea, Ioane
Goals: Richie Mo‘unga 3/5 conversions
Crowd: 83, 944
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