All Blacks turn in exhibition of power and speed
Crotty and Messam front as Wallabies get a Bledisloe Cup ice bucket from Hansen’s heroes.
THEY WERE both returning to test rugby for the All Blacks but Ryan Crotty and Liam Messam had different experiences at Eden Park last night.
So much had been talked and written about Crotty’s role in replacing the seemingly irreplaceable Ma’a Nonu, and Messam’s return – after a month on the sidelines – in place of Jerome Kaino.
Was Crotty’s physical presence going to be up to it? Who was going to make the line breaks now?
The critics need not have worried. Crotty played a crucial part in a standout second test performance that sewed up the Bledisloe Cup for the All Blacks with a match to spare.
Outside the ebullient playmaking of the two Aarons – Smith and Cruden – Crotty thrived in a backline that became more adventurous as the match wore on, and the All Blacks forwards’ renewed physicality gave them the frontfoot attacking edge.
Between them, the fiveeighths created space for those outside and the wide game returned with a vengeance for New Zealand.
But Crotty’s impact lasted just the first half, a cheekbone injury forcing him off at halftime, replaced by Malakai Fekitoa when the All Blacks returned to the field.
For Messam the first 40 minutes was a different kettle of fish. Although he was very much a part of that All Black physical presence, and injected himself often and effectively, he had a nightmare time with his hands out wide, spilling three balls on attack.
But cut the guy some slack. The man who had made the No 6 jersey his own before Kaino returned from Japan had not played rugby for four weeks and was rusty, although there was little lacking in his ‘‘engine power’’.
Unlike Crotty, Messam got the chance to make amends in the second stanza with the All Blacks sitting on a healthy 23-6 advantage – 14 points of that coming with lock Rob Simmons in the sin-bin.
And as the All Blacks got more and more audacious with their sweeping counter-attacks, Messam played his part until finally given a rest in the 63rd minute, replaced by local hero Steven Luatua, who got to finish off the record 51-20 rout with the last try.
Cory Jane was invalided out of the test early in the second half and replaced by Beauden Barrett, but if anything, the wonderful long-range attacking just got better.
Up front, you could only marvel at the power and workrate of lock Brodie Retallick, who was my player of the match, but the rest of his pack were not far behind.
After a silly early offside penalty by tighthead prop Owen Franks and then the early sinbinning of skipper Richie McCaw for a cynical foul, the All Blacks finally found some better discipline, even if a late yellow card took replacement prop Ben Franks off the field for the last three minutes.
McCaw more than made up for his early transgression as he led his forwards from the front, scoring two tries in the space of five minutes through the middle stages of the second spell and leading the physical charge with Kieran Read and Messam in tow, while hooker Dane Coles was outstanding in his support play, the wide attacking game of New Zealand suiting him.
Yes, the Wallabies showed some ticker in fighting back to get two quick tries in reply after that, but the desperation of the All Blacks did not disappear under the weight of substitutions and one superb piece of scramble defence by Barrett to stop a runaway Israel Folau from getting his second try was remarkable.