Barrett takes charge as Australia are embarrassed
It is always a pleasure to watch sporting greatness in action, so this was rugby ecstasy.
Yes, New Zealand were that good. And to think that this is supposed to be a side in transition after losing a number of legends following last year’s Rugby World Cup. But the truth is that there is little difference between that side and the one now. The names of those greats are not mentioned and the standards required are set as high, and those coming in have duly met them.
They absolutely destroyed Australia in Sydney, going 32-2 up by half-time with four tries and playing a brand of rugby that might have been simple but was quite devastating in its execution and thrilling in its pace and movement.
Other teams can try to copy the All Blacks, but to play this sort of game you need 15 players on the field not just with a mindset to attack but also with the requisite will to reposition as well as the handling skills and vision to bring it off. In that respect the work of the locks Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock was astounding.
Whitelock’s handling in Julian Savea’s second-half try was remarkable, while Retallick was unfortunate that his first-half try was disallowed because of an accidental offside after a chargedown in the build-up.
These two were not too shabby at the less glamorous aspects of the second-row role, either, as Australia’s line-out was unpicked (they lost five on their own throw) and most of the contact situations were won by the All Blacks.
The back row of captain Kieran Read (despite a late yellow card that was meaningless in the game’s context), Jerome Kaino and Sam Cane were magnificent, with Kaino scoring a try after charging down Bernard Foley and Cane, with Ardie Savea breathing down his neck for a place, producing probably his finest performance in the Black No 7 jersey.
Scrum-half Aaron Smith was also as sharp as ever, but the star of the show was undoubtedly Beauden Barrett. His first-half display, in which he scored a delightful try as well as kicking 12 points, was as influential as you will ever see from a fly-half. Even that chap Dan, now in France and whose name we must not breathe, must have been impressed.
There were six tries in all, with Ryan Crotty and Waisake Naholo both scoring in the first half before leaving at the break and Dane Coles, on early in the first half for Codie Taylor, crossing in the second half. But it could have been more, with Israel Dagg also having a try disallowed late on. A number of kicks were missed too. It really could have been very ugly indeed for Australia.
So this was absolute confirmation that the All Blacks are some considerable distance ahead of the others, led by England at No 2, in the world.
Indeed, some of the euphoria created by England’s recent series victory in Australia might need to be tempered in light of this result, and on the flip side some of the gloom that enveloped Wales after their defeats by New Zealand can be lifted.
It was a day that had been given a strange start by the news of a bugging device being found at the All Blacks’ hotel earlier in the week. Nobody quite knew what to make of that, just as nobody could ever have imagined that Australia would be made to look so poor by the visitors to Sydney.
Of course, they were inconvenienced by losing three inside centres by halftime, with Matt Giteau (ankle), Matt Toomua (head) and Rob Horne (shoulder) all lame by then, but even though that is horrible misfortune, with replacement scrum-half Nick Phipps having to play on the wing, that does not excuse the 38 tackles that were missed throughout the game, the loose tactical kicking, that woeful aforementioned set-piece or the sloppy handling.
The decision to omit Scott Fardy, such a good line-out option, and play Ben McCalman at No8, even if he was named at six, was revealed as foolhardy. The famed combination of David Pocock and Michael Hooper at the breakdown was almost non-existent, New Zealand winning ball there at will without committing too many players.
With such a strength neutered it was as dispiriting a night as Australian rugby can ever have had. “It’s hard to know what to say,” said captain Stephen Moore afterwards. “I feel for all our fans who came out tonight. It wasn’t good enough.”
You can say that again. Or you could say that New Zealand were truly great, but whatever your viewpoint you can be sure that Moore’s team are not particularly looking forward to the return match in Wellington next week.
New Zealand played a brand of rugby that was thrilling in its pace and devastating in its execution