Numbers don’t add up for the Wallabies
The traditional trans-Tasman clash seems a long way from being a contest. For the second week in a row, and the fourth time in succession, the All Blacks ran all over the Wallabies to secure the Bledisloe Cup on Saturday.
It was 2002 when Australia last held the Bledisloe, a time before Facebook and a year before the professional career of one Stephen Moore began.
Now Moore is leading his country, a 107 cap veteran in charge of one of the weakest Wallabies sides in memory.
It’s not all his fault, but Moore and the Wallabies coaching staff have to come up with something quickly, because the once great rivalry is becoming an exhibition, not a contest.
The problem is they seem bereft of ideas. With the Bledisloe Cup on the line, the Wallabies came across the Tasman and played very little rugby. It seemed an exercise in keeping the score down, rather than attempting to win a game, and a trophy.
Two-thirds of the match was spent inside Australia’s half of the field as the Wallabies lacked any real attacking threat until the All Blacks eased off late on. When they had the ball, which was 45 per cent of the time, the Wallabies couldn’t do anything with it.
They struggled to win the battle at the breakdown, slow to present the ball and pass it on. They ran the ball 80 times to New Zealand’s 107, making 84 passes to the All Blacks’ 179.
‘‘The players responded much better from an intent point of view,’’ coach Michael Cheika said afterwards, although what intent that was is a good question.
It certainly wasn’t attacking intent. It wasn’t intent to dominate the breakdown. Much of their intent was to ruffle a few Kiwi feathers, and a fat load of good that did them in the end.
‘‘We need to be more clinical, obviously. But from an intent point of