All Blacks survive big scare under roof
halftime, the early pyrotechnics were expected to come from the home team.
An intercept pass by Damian McKenzie gifted Folau his try, Kieran Read slipped off a tackle of Hooper during a lineout drive and Foley prospered when his halfback Will Genia surprised the defence and darted through a hole following a messy scrum.
It was as if the All Blacks, so keyed-up to honour the late Sir Colin Meads with a victory, had forgotten the simple basics; Sonny Bill Williams couldn’t hold the ball in the early exchanges and the timing of the backline seemed off kilter by at least a few notches.
When things go wrong, they can go horribly askew. Openside flanker Sam Cane had to leave the field appearing to have been left dazed, forcing Ardie Savea on the park in the 13th minute.
Just to rub it in even more, referee Nigel Owens rightly called back ‘‘tries’’ to Ryan Crotty and Rieko Ioane for earlier infringements and right on the halftime bell he disallowed another to Ben Smith because lost control of the ball as he forced it down near the goal post.
There was some reward, however. Another mighty scrum shunt by the All Blacks ensured Aaron Smith had all the time in the world to assess his options, and his decision to dart forward reaped the expected dividends.
Splitting these moment, however, was the five-pointer scored by Ioane. Amid all the other madness taking place, this looked so easy; having driven off a lineout, a ruck was set and inside pass to Ioane by Aaron Smith finally allowed the All Blacks to get a piece of action on the scoreboard.
And the action continued right through the final bell.