All Blacks drop their winning record
FOR THE All Blacks, a sense of de´ ja` vu is no longer solely applicable to the French at World Cups – the supposedly woeful Wallabies have ended New Zealand’s tilt at a world record winning sequence a second time with a deserved stalemate in Brisbane.
Their against the odds 18- 18 draw had no bearing the All Blacks continued ownership of the Bledisloe Cup, but it did prevent the world champions matching their predecessors in 1965-69 and Nick Mallett’s Springboks (1997-98) by claiming 17 straight test triumphs.
Queensland’s footballing citadel again proved an unhappy hunting ground for the All Blacks, 14 months after the Wallabies secured the last Tri-Nations title by inflicting New Zealand’s most recent defeat.
A morale victory for Australian coach Robbie Deans – he also controlled the team responsible for ending the All Blacks’ 15- test unbeaten run at Hong Kong in 2010 – produced contrasting emotions for Keven Mealamu, whose was unable to join Richie McCaw and Mils Muliaina is celebrating his centurion status in appropriate style.
Robbie Deans, an assistant coach when Mealamu was first selected for the All Blacks in 2002, avoided the 14th loss success against his homeland in 18 attempts thanks to the flawless goal kicking of North Harbour representative Mike Harris.
The former New Zealand under20s representative squared an error-strewn though dramatic tryless encounter at Suncorp Stadium with seven minutes of regulation time to play though the Wallabies had to wait until long after the siren to gain some solace from a disappointing season.
In a fraught conclusion, the Wallabies held possession and field position, but refused to set for a dropped goal; then from a penalty turnover the All Blacks launched one desperate raid into Australian territory, but Daniel Carter was unable to repeat his match-saving field goal exploits in the second Irish test at Christchurch in June.
His stood disconsolate after his pot from 25-metres in front of the posts drifted wide of the righthand upright.
After two sublime performances in La Plata and Soweto, the All Blacks regressed to the uninspiring form they produced at the start of the Rugby Championship – and opening trans-Tasman encounters as Harris, one of seven Wallabies making a Bledisloe Cup debut, punished their inaccuracy and illegalities in multiples of three.
Aaron Smith set the tone for the a tardy opening 40 minutes by the overwhelming favourites in the opening seconds when his clearance of Kurtley Beale’s deep kickoff was charged down – the start of a forgettable experience for the halfback who lost possession as he attempted to force the ball against an upright and then lost contact with Hosea Gear after the All Blacks made a rare line break.
The All Blacks problems were not all self-inflicted as the Wallabies exerted tremendous pressure at the breakdown, an area where South African referee Craig Joubert frequently found fault with McCaw and his men.
To add insult to injury, McCaw was penalised at a ruck five minutes later, prompting Joubert to issues a warning for persistent infringing – Tony Woodcock paid the price on the stroke of halftime.
The Wallabies were also depleted in the 55th minute when McCaw’s counterpart Michael Hooper was sinbinned for a late hit on Smith. Carter goaled the resulting penalty to trim the Wallabies margin to three and was also on target down the stretch as the All Blacks led for the first time with 10 minutes to elapse.
The All Blacks famed composure was barely evident all night.