Naholo’s double sink Wallabies
And Hansen praises Peyper call on Naholo tackle
Fijian-born All Black sensation Waisake Naholo showed why he is still a top pick for the All Black wing. His skill and speed on the field helped the ABs brush off any threat from the Wallabies on Saturday by scoring two tries in their 38-13 victory. Naholo and the All Blacks clinically dismantled a stunned Wallabies side in the second half, pouncing on the Wallabies errors and capitalising on them with points on the board. Game two is at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand, this Saturday.
The All Blacks will have to come up with a new starting wing and second fiveeighths for Saturday’s second Bledisloe at Eden Park, Auckland when they will look to put their other hand on that big trophy and lock it away for another year.
Coach Steve Hansen confirmed in the wake of last Saturday’s night 38-13 victory over the Wallabies at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium, which featured a 33-7 second-half scoring explosion, that both star left wing Rieko Ioane and linchpin midfielder Ryan Crotty were out of contention for Bledisloe II.
Crotty was “knocked out” in a head clash with midfield mate Jack Goodhue early in the match and definitely won’t play in Auckland; while Ioane strained his hamstring in the breakout that led to Goodhue’s try and also looks a certain defection.
Anton Lienert-Brown, who played so well in Crotty’s stead after coming on in just the 12 minute, looks the likely replacement second five-eighths starter; though Hansen conceded they would also weigh Ngani Laumape’s case before making a final decision.
Hansen said they saw “plenty” from LienertBrown who hadn’t trained at 12 in the leadup.
“We’ve got a lot of faith in Anton ... he’s never let us down. The reason we didn’t start him is we know he does that role off the bench really well, and it allowed Jack to start with a guy he knows really well.
“Alby has been given an opportunity through injury and done really well. Having said that, we’ve got some quality people who can play that position, Ngani being one of them. We’ll make some decisions over the next few days.” Jordie Barrett and Nehe Milner-Skudder, who produced a promising outing for Manawatu on Saturday, are the likely wing options, though Hansen could potentially bring someone in from outside the squad as a replacement.
SPOT ON PREPARATION
The All Blacks were mostly happy with a performance that built slowly at first but then saw them dominate the Wallabies over the last hour of the match. They dismantled the Australian lineout with seven steals and forced the home side into a mammoth 40 missed tackles.
“The first half was like two big bulls in the ring headbutting each other,” said Hansen. “They had the momentum for the first 20 and then we got a bit of ball and forced them make some tackles. Whilst we didn’t score the points we wanted, we put them under a lot of pressure and in the second half we were able to take advantage of it.”
And the ease with which the tries came for the New Zealanders over the run home as they continued their remarkable stranglehold over the Wallabies.
They have won eight of the last nine Bledisloe matchups and have lost just four of the last 33– offers no reason to suggest we will see anything different next weekend at a ground the Australians haven’t won at since 1986.
“The first thing you’ve got to expect is they’ll get better,” said Hansen on what he was anticipating in Auckland.
“Like a number of our players who got knocked out early in Super Rugby, they haven’t had a lot footy. The game will benefit them. They’ll look to continue that first 20 minutes where they probably dominated the game. “They’ll want to build bigger and longer momentum patches. They’ll tidy their lineout up for sure. They’re a hungry side. But what we’ve got to do is the key thing.
“It’s all very fine winning one, but you don’t win the Bledisloe Cup winning one. You’ve got to earn the right to put both hands on it. Our preparation has to be spot-on and really genuine.”
NAHOLO’S TACKLE FAIR
Skipper Kieran Read agreed, with last year a reminder of the adjustments the Wallabies can make between the first and second Bledisloe.
“All we’ve got is one hand on the Bledisloe. It’s still up for grabs. We need to reflect that in our preparation. It was a good tough win tonight and the guys will enjoy it. But it’s really important we put that to the side.
“Trying to back up a performance is a hard thing in sport. It’s something we’re really looking forward to doing.”
Hansen also thought referee Jaco Peyper and his team got the call spot-on when Waisake Naholo appeared to go close to a tip-tackle on Israel Folau in just the fourth minute.
“That was a fair tackle. Israel jumped a little bit in the air into the tackle. Sometimes things can’t be avoided. I thought Jaco refereed well. If you listen both (assistant) Wayne Barnes and Jaco said pen only. They read it well ... there was no intent.”
BOKS SCORE COMEBACK WIN
Meanhile, the Springboks opened their Rugby Championship account with a 34-21 come-frombehind victory over Argentina at Kings Park in Durban yesterday.
The Boks have not lost consecutive matches on home soil since a three-match losing run between 2015 and 2016.
And after that 25-10 defeat to England in the final Test of the June internationals, they looked as if they just might repeat the feat when trailing 14-10 at the interval after a scrappy firsthalf performance.
However, Rassie Erasmus’ men clicked into gear in the second-half, scoring 17 unanswered points to complete a thrilling comeback and continue their impressive record under their charismatic new mentor.
The former Munster boss will be delighted with his wing duo and inexperienced centre pairing