The All Blacks burst the Wallabies’ bubble with a crushing 39-10 win to storm back into contention for the Tri-Nations and the Bledisloe Cup yesterday.
Stung by a week of soul searching after their dismal 15-point loss to the same opponents in Sydney last weekend, New Zealand were too committed for an Australian side unbeaten in five Tests under Robbie Deans since he took charge as Wallabies’ first foreign coach.
It was a particularly special night for embattled All Blacks coach Graham Henry, who admitted he had been out-coached the previous week by Deans — the man the New Zealand Rugby Union rejected in favor of keeping Henry despite the All Blacks’ World Cup failure last year.
PHOTO: AP
“We learned from last week, it was a learning experience for us all, particularly for the coaches,” Henry said. “We changed our pattern and our kicking game paid dividends. We took our opportunities this week and that last bonus point [try] was just the icing on the cake.”
The All Blacks returned to the top of the Tri-Nations with the bonus-point fourth try in injury time and also leveled the best-of-four match trans-Tasman Bledisloe Cup series with two games to play in Brisbane and Hong Kong.
Fly-half Dan Carter kicked 19 points from two conversions and five penalties from nine attempts.
Australia found playing a third consecutive weekend of Tri-Nations rugby a bridge too far and they now have three weeks to prepare for their next Test against South Africa in Durban, while the All Blacks take on the Springboks in Cape Town on Aug. 16.
“It was a pretty good performance from the All Blacks,” Deans said. “They built pressure and they profited from that and didn’t allow us to build pressure and they grew in confidence. We came up a distant second here and we have some downtime before we go to Africa and look forward to that opportunity.”
The All Blacks annihilated Australia’s normally reliable line-out, winning seven against the throw, and dominated the breakdown area, which was a weakness in Sydney.
New Zealand, fired up after an intense traditional haka, ripped into the Wallabies from the kickoff and were a considerably different outfit than the one which went down by a near-record score the previous weekend.
Matt Giteau kicked the Wallabies in front with a fourth-minute penalty, but from there the All Blacks dominated territory and possession, winning the breakdown aided by the return of skipper and flanker Richie McCaw.
Carter kicked two penalties before the momentum turned with two tries in four minutes by loose-head prop Tony Woodcock, both burrowing efforts close to the Wallabies’ try line.
Woodcock crashed over in the 20th minute and then scored off Ali Williams’ line-out win to score again four minutes later.
Carter’s conversion pushed the All Blacks out to an imposing 18-3 lead and their intensity had the Wallabies rattled.
But the Australians hit back eight minutes before halftime with a well-worked try off a line-out win, with Giteau’s wide pass giving outside-center Stirling Mortlock space to get round Conrad Smith and set full-back Adam Ashley-Cooper on his way to the line.
The Wallabies were back in the game at 18-10, but George Smith conceded his second off-side ruck penalty to give Carter the chance to kick his third penalty and a 21-10 halftime lead.
New Zealand struck decisively minutes after the resumption when the Wallabies botched a line-out and came under pressure, with center Ma’a Nonu and winger Sitiveni Sivivatu combining before Nonu plunged over for a converted try and a 28-10 advantage.
Carter kicked New Zealand out of sight with two more penalties, but it looked as though they would miss out on a scoring bonus point until Nonu’s injury time sprint to the corner, the video referee giving the nod for his team’s fourth try.
The defeat means the Wallabies increased their losing sequence in away Tri-Nations Tests to 14, with their last win on the road coming in New Zealand in 2001.
TRI-NATIONS STANDINGS
Team P W L PD PTS
1 New Zealand 4 2 2 +23 10
2 Australia 3 2 1 -7 9
3 South Africa 3 1 2 -16 5
OFFENSE SHINES: First baseman Pan Chie-kai hit a solo homer in the fifth inning as all 10 batters Taiwan used contributed at least one hit toward their team total of 14 One day after their first shutout loss at the WBSC Premier12, Taiwan yesterday bounced back with a commanding 8-2 victory over the US, keeping their hopes for a spot in tomorrow’s final alive. The win in the Super Round marked Taiwan’s first triumph over the US at a top-tier international baseball tournament since 2003. Their previous win over the US was at the 2003 Baseball World Cup, with only one win in the previous 10 matchups since 1999. Yesterday’s game was tightly contested through the first six innings, with the margin never exceeding two runs. However, the tide turned in the top of
“Please love us. Please cheer us on. We have been working hard. Do not give up on us.” Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien’s heartfelt plea echoed across the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s (WBSC) Premier12 tournament after a historic victory. Rather than boasting, Chen was making an earnest appeal after leading Taiwan to a 4-0 victory over Japan to claim their first major international baseball title at the senior level. Chen’s decisive three-run homer in the fifth inning and his Premier12 leading .632 batting average secured him the Premier12’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) title. He was also named one of the tournament’s outstanding defensive players
WELL-AGED: Although the youngest team in the tournament, Taiwan featured several veteran stars, including Sunday’s home-run hero Chen Chieh-hsien “I will never forget today,” veteran Taiwanese pitcher Chen Kuan-yu said after Taiwan on Sunday night blanked Japan to secure their first ever gold in the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s (WBSC) Premier12 championship. Chen, who at 34 is the oldest member on the team, said Taiwan “made every difficult step to come to today’s victory. I will never forget today.” Taiwan made history when they won their first gold medal of the Premier12 tournament, beating Japan in a 4-0 shutout victory in the final at the Tokyo Dome. It was a jaw-dropping victory for many baseball commentators who went into the game with
Nikola Jokic on Saturday scored 34 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to spark the Denver Nuggets over the Los Angeles Lakers 127-102, continuing their dominance of the NBA rivalry, while Scotty Pippen Jr scored a career-best 30 points to lead the Memphis Grizzlies past the Chicago Bulls, 142-131. The Nuggets won for the 13th time in the past 14 contests against the Lakers, including ousting the Lakers in the playoffs the past two seasons. Serbian star Jokic failed to achieve his sixth consecutive triple-double, managing only eight assists, but his effort was plenty as Michael Porter Jr added 24 points and 11
RSS