Moore: Aussies don’t fit Test bill
When the trash talk stopped at Eden Park yesterday Warren Gatland’s players did manage to score the try of the century.
A length- of-the-field move, reminiscent of the Barbarians’ epic score against the same opposition in 1973, which All Blacks boss Steve Hansen hailed as “one of the best Test tries I’ve ever seen, one of the best in the annals of Test rugby”. Steve Hansen insists his All Blacks proved they can play “down and dirty” as he took a dig at the Lions’ bid to become the world’s best forward pack.
Lions assistant coach Steve Borthwick had challenged the tourists to become the best forward pack on the planet to stand a chance while boss Warren Gatland wanted them to “suffocate” the world champions.
However, New Zealand outmuscled them in the scrum and lineout.
And Kiwi head coach Hansen said: “I always find it amusing when people tell us they are going to beat us up in the tight five.
“We can play down and dirty rugby too if we have to. And I mean down and dirty in the most respectful way.
“Our tight five were very good. If the tight five do the job, everyone else can play.
“This Test was always shooting themselves in the foot. Taylor scored after Daly dropped his guard and allowed the Kiwis to take a quick tap-and-go.
Their much-vaunted scrum got it all wrong when allowing the All Blacks to get the shove on and man of the match Kieran Read to make the first of Ioane’s two tries with a quite sublime pass off the floor.
Williams then spoiled his earlier sparkl ing work by failing to f ield a high ball, enabling Ioane to regather and outpace Daly to the try line.
“This was the biggest game of my life but there were ups and downs,” the full-back admitted.
“We’ll dust ourselves down and come back next week. Of course we’re still optimistic, of course we can come back.”
The Lions today f ly to Wellington where they must use Tuesday’s game against the Hurricanes to patch up their set-piece and clean up their act.
Defiant back row Taulupe Faletau said: “We still believe we can win the next game and get what we want out of this tour.”
Their cause has been helped by injuries to All Blacks vice captain Ben Smith and centre Ryan Crotty – who are doubts for the rest of the series.
Full-back Smith failed a head injury assessment during the first half, while Crotty limped off with a hamstring injury.
Coach Hansen said: “Ben failed a concussion test and will go through the protocols.
“Ryan has pulled his hammy, so we already had Jack Goodhue in as a replacement to help him out with his ribs.
“Jack will be staying with us, and we will try to get Ryan ready, maybe for the last test.” going to be won in the tight five. We won that battle but that doesn’t guarantee that will happen next week. We have to be extremely proud of what they did.
“You don’t become the No.1 side in the world without having a quality tight five.”
Skipper Stephen Moore reckons Australia aren’t fit enough for Test rugby after responding to their Scotland defeat with a shaky 40-27 win over Italy. The Wallabies, beaten by the Dark Blues for a second successive time on home soil last weekend, led the Azzurri 28-13 early in the second half in Brisbane. But the tourists scored two converted tries to trail by a point with three minutes left. Bernard Foley thwarted the comeback w ith a jinking run and try before Reece Hodge dashed down the touchline to cross.
New Zealand are up next and Moore insists clubs must do a better job of preparing players.
He said: “It shouldn’t be hard for Super Rugby to produce players ready for Test match footy.
“I don’t know what the issue is there but we can’t waste a day in the next two months. There is a gap between Super Rugby and Test rugby. The intensity is up but that doesn’t mean we can’t train like we have to play Test footy.”