TEST RUGBY RESULT: New Zealand 23, Australia 22

11.09.2010
New Zealand 23, Australia 22 in Sydney

Briefly
I watched this game live. At 19-6 I thought, 'man, these Wallabies are going to run the AB's off their feet. Those Aussie backs look dangerous'.

Well as it turned out the All Blacks changed their game plan late in the second half from trying to match their opposites with equal back line flair to a gutsy forward-dominated attack. (like the AB's in the good old days!) That sapped all the flair and energy out of the Australians. It was a predicted move after being down by so much but if Matt Giteau had been on target the Aussies would have lead 28-6 early in the second half and I'd have doubts as to whether the AB's would have been able to come back from that far back.

I still think the Aussies lack front five grunt. They have everything else back to fullback. They would have the most dangerous backline in all test rugby at the moment. There were times when they made the New Zealand back line look very ordinary. But at this level of rugby you have to be able to match their tight five with your tight five or else you are sunk. Late in that half the Wallabies were sunk.