SPORT Brilliant Kiwis in another Cup blitz
THE brutal “Blackout” season forced on the Wallabies yesterday by their 37-20 loss showed there is only one spot in next year’s World Cup final up for grabs when Yokohama is next the focus of a rugby showpiece.
The All Blacks were supreme in the final 22 minutes to grab command of this Test and prove again that the gap to next best is a gulf when their precision clicks.
The dire 2018 ledger of 38-13, 40-12 and 37-20 will go down in history as horribly lopsided, a 70-point difference between the sides and nearly at the 81-point level of 2016.
For all that, the Wallabies challenged and tested the Kiwis for long periods but messy handling at key moments and great All Blacks scrambling always kept a margin.
The Wallabies were still in it at 27-13 just past the hour mark but a big, fending run by comeback centre Samu Kerevi was wasted just a blink before hooker Tolu Latu showed his ill-discipline again.
Latu was egged into shoving All Blacks hooker Codie Taylor in the chin after copping a hand in the chest himself and that moment of no control meant the Wallabies were in real trouble with 14 men.
To their credit, Israel Folau, playing at fullback in an unscripted Wallabies change, scored for the undermanned men in gold after Kerevi dished him a lovely one-handed off-load after another strong run.
Kerevi’s impact for the final 24 minutes was eye-catching after three months out with injuries and his direct running has been missed.
Halfback Will Genia was sharp, five-eighth Bernard ALL BLACKS WALLABIES Foley had excellent moments for the 46,143-strong crowd and Folau was a weapon except for his wasteful intercept pass for the late Ben Smith try.
It was the 100th Test for prop Sekope Kepu for the final 27 minutes and while his teammates saluted him royally in their dressing room it was hollow of a winning mood.
The Wallabies were slaughtered by a cumulative 26-0 across the five minutes either side of half-time in Sydney and Auckland in August when concentration wavered and the fabled extra gear of the All Blacks buried them.
The signs were ominous again when All Blacks skipper Kieran Read speared from the back of a 5m scrum for a simple yet clinical try in the 36th minute for 17-3.
Coach Michael Cheika had drummed in the message all week to keep “ripping in for the five minutes before the half and the five minutes after” with better concentration and his men did.
A strong, twisting Ned Hanigan surge and a big ball-carry from prop Allan Alaalatoa got the Wallabies on the front-foot in the minute before half-time.
Ultimately, winger Marika Koroibete fed his old Fijian schoolmate Sefa Naivalu on the left wing where he crashed over for 17-10.