CLEAN SWEEP!
All Blacks 38 Wallabies 21
Mark the All Blacks’ highoctane victory in Perth down as an emphatic statement of depth. Securing a rare clean sweep over a motivated Wallabies side is a notable achievement. To do it in these circumstances is another entirely.
Before moving on, it must be said this match, played in front of a 60,000 sell-out, should hand NZ Rugby a wake-up call when it comes to staging more afternoon rugby. Nine tries and a spectacle-and-a-half, this was.
Now consider the adversity the All Blacks overcame to deliver the Wallabies a soul-destroying defeat, with another standout performance from Akira Ioane confirming he has arrived in the No 6 jersey.
Already missing centurions Sam Whitelock, Aaron Smith and in-form playmaker Richie Mo’unga, the All Blacks were dealt further blows with Ardie Savea, captain for the first time, and experienced hooker Codie Taylor suffering head knocks and being ruled out in the first half.
Then, of course, there was a highly debatable red card.
With the All Blacks leading 13-0 after 27 minutes, Jordie Barrett was sent off after raising his foot while catching a high ball. Barrett’s sprigs collected Marika Koroibete in the face, and despite the clear accidental nature of the incident, Australian referee Damon Murphy was unwavering in his red card punishment. The only saving grace was dismissed players can be replaced after 20 minutes in the Rugby Championship.
While the Ioane brothers stood out, newly-reappointed All Blacks coach Ian Foster will take great satisfaction from a performance in which many of his second and third-choice players
seamlessly stepped up. That includes Chiefs hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho and Crusaders flanker Ethan Blackadder, who came off the bench.
Successive bonus-point wins over the Wallabies leaves Foster’s All Blacks well placed in the Rugby Championship as they eye two tests each against the Pumas and world champion Springboks.
The backs scored all six tries for the All Blacks but the real heroes came up front.
The pack’s work on defence and at the breakdown was exceptional. The breakdown is an area the All Blacks have struggled in recent times — Fiji among those to expose weaknesses — but it was a different story in Perth. Taylor and Havili won breakdown penalties but the decisionmaking and urgency to attack the Wallabies ball was superb.
Defensively, Scott Barrett harassed the Wallabies all afternoon.
With ball in hand, the All Blacks were equally dominant. The offloading from their big men, strong carries from Akira Ioane, Brodie Retallick storming over the top of Wallabies captain Michael Hooper, Beauden Barrett laying on Jordie
Barrett’s opening try with a deft grubber for Will Jordan, and Rieko Ioane splitting the men in green and gold up the middle were all instances of beauty in their own right.
That theme continued in the second half, with Rieko Ioane running down Tom Banks, and Akira Ioane beating three defenders to send Will Jordan in for his 11th test try.
On the back of this performance, it is clear this All Blacks squad is united and determined.
The Wallabies claimed three tries but were again underwhelming, particularly during a horror first half. Koroibete was denied two tries — the first for a ruck infringement, the second for a double movement — but otherwise the Wallabies were in selfsabotage mode, such was the defensive pressure applied by the All Blacks.
As was the case in their record defeat at Eden Park, Dave Rennie’s men failed to make the most of their one-man advantage — this time for 20 minutes. Instead the All Blacks drove the Wallabies pack back 20m and Havili crashed over for a remarkable 18-0 halftime lead.
By the time Damian McKenzie restored the All Blacks to their full complement 10 minutes into the second half, they had scored five points and conceded none while reduced to 14 men.
When it was 15 against 15, the All Blacks largely ran rampant, leaving the Wallabies to ponder where to next after another humbling.
With their backs to the wall in challenging circumstances, the All Blacks responded in Perth. Keeping taking these sorts of steps and their apparent ceiling will be redefined. All Blacks 38 (Jordie Barrett, David Havili 2, Will Jordan, Anton LienertBrown, George Bridge tries; Beauden Barrett con, 2 pens)
Wallabies 21 (Folau Fainga’a, Nic White, Tom Banks tries; Noah Lolesio 2 cons, Reece Hodge con) Halftime: 18-0.