Moody helps bridge the gap
Asked to lead from the front as the senior All Blacks prop in the side, Joe Moody accepted the challenge and set about tearing into the Wallabies in Dunedin on Saturday night.
Playing without the injured Owen Franks (achilles) and Wyatt Crockett (concussion) - also Crusaders teammates of Moody - isn’t something he is used to.
However, you wouldn’t have picked it judging by the All Blacks’ dominant performance up front in their 35-29 Bledisloe Cup clinching win at Forsyth Barr Stadium.
‘‘It was a bit of a surprise since we had a real arm-wrestle with them last week,’’ Moody said after the match.
The 28-year-old is talking about the way his team monstered the Wallabies in the scrum, particularly in the first half of the match the All Blacks had to come back from 17-0 down to win.
Moody was joined by close friend and Chiefs prop Nepo Laulala, playing in just his fifth test, and Dane Coles, in his first test in nine months, in the starting front-row.
What followed was brutal, as they repeatedly bulldozed the Wallabies and had them backpedalling at a rate of knots.
It didn’t get any better than late in the first half, when first the All Blacks wrecked the Wallabies’ defensive scrum and earned a penalty, before following it up with another mighty push on their own feed a moment before halfback Aaron Smith dived over.
The entire forward pack deserves credit but it’s difficult not to single out Laulala, who only came into the side after Franks was scratched on Thursday.
‘‘[He] was awesome tonight, wasn’t he?’’ Moody said. ‘‘Neps is my best mate and it’s just awesome to have him back in the side and to actually play alongside him, as well.
‘‘Replacing Owen Franks, for him to play like he did and scrum like he did, it was awesome to see.’’
What made the dominant scrum even more satisfying was the fact it came a week after things didn’t go so well in the 54-34 win in Sydney.
The All Blacks’ scrum was mostly a mess at ANZ Stadium, with referee Wayne Barnes penalising the Kiwis a couple of times.
In the leadup to Saturday night’s thrilling win, All Blacks lock Brodie Retallick admitted the Wallabies ‘‘outsmarted’’ his side in the scrum in Bledisloe I, and made it clear they were working hard to fix the issues.
Fix it they did, and without two key cogs in the side.
‘‘There was a bit of a mention of it this week to me,’’ Moody said when asked if he felt extra pressure without Crockett and Franks out.
‘‘But at the same time I didn’t really want to try and do anything extra, I just wanted to do my role and do it well. By doing that it sort of leads by example for the younger props.’’
With the All Blacks sneaking home courtesy of a clutch 78th minute try to Beauden Barrett, the All Blacks locked up the Bledisloe Cup for a 15th consecutive year.
It appeared as if a decider would be required when Wallabies midfielder Kurtley Beale scored in the 76th minute, before the All Blacks’ belief shone through.
‘‘None of us like losing so we’ve got a real never say die attitude. We just want to do it for each other,’’ Moody said.
He wasn’t on the field for the frantic last 13 minutes of the match, having earned a welldeserved spell.