AUSTRALIAN RUGBY WRITERS were unanimous in their description of the All Blacks’ dominant performance against the Wallabies in Eden Park on Saturday night — it was a “massacre”.
The All Blacks recorded a half-century for only the second time against Australia, as they trounced the Wallabies by a record 51-20 and retained the Bledisloe Cup for the 12th straight year.
“Massacre. The Blacklash was without mercy last night when the Wallabies were hammered with such contempt that it may be another 28 years before they win in Auckland,” wrote Jim Tucker in Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph.
A constant theme in the reactions centred on the hunger shown by the rampaging All Blacks, which stood in stark contrast to the “lackadaisical” Wallabies effort.
“A mediocre team playing poorly is easier to stomach, but a squad that appears to have some potential, and then performs as lackadaisically as those representing Australia did in Auckland, is something of a gut-wrencher,” said Andrew Slack in Queensland’s The Courier Mail.
“There were too many moments to choose from in terms of determining the difference between the mindset of the All Blacks and the Wallabies, but perhaps it was the try on full-time that said it all.
“The All Blacks wanted more. The Wallabies looked as if they couldn’t be bothered.”
Fairfax Media praised the leadership of All Blacks captain Richie McCaw, who was sent to the sin bin early in the game but replied with two second-half tries.
(All Blacks’ Malakai Fekitoa and TJ Perenara celebrate with the Bledisloe Cup)
“It was a fitting response to weeks of questions over his form, fitness and tactics,” The Sydney Morning Herald’s Georgina Robinson wrote.
The superiority of the All Blacks made it more evident Australia had “blown their best chance” in the 12-12 draw in the first Rugby Championship encounter in Sydney last Saturday, Tucker added.
Despite the ruthless display by the world champions, there were some lessons the Wallabies could take away from their “horror show” in Auckland, said news.com.au’s Sam Clench.
Australia were “really dangerous” when they were on the attack, with captain Michael Hooper “sprinting around defenders like a Honey Badger with rocket boots”, he wrote.
“The potential of this team is obvious, but at the moment, it’s also unfulfilled,” Clench said.
The Aussie press are classless s**mbags in their approach to anything that distablises Australian “greatness”. Hammered fairly and squarely. Get over it.
Hard to get the Wallabies to bond the way the Kiwis do when you have players like Beale putting their own ego before the team
The Waratahs were superb winning the Super 15 but they don’t show the same fight when playing for the national team. In Israel Faleau they still have the best player in the world though.
Union is 3rd or 4th choice in OZ correct but public still care and want to see the team do well. Rugby is prob 3rd biggest sport in Ireland (probably I say) but lots of people care and take a keen interest in it and rally behind the team. I’m sure the union fans in oz will do the same.
The Aussies won’t care that much anyway. Anybody who has spent time down in Oz will know rugby union is a minority sport, and the popularity of it pales in comparison to sports like Rugby league and AFL. Even football now has a bigger following down there.
Two World Cup victories…maybe we should care less too…
Australia getting 2 world cups says more about the competitiveness of international rugby than it does about Australia’s passion for union.
Union may be a “minor” sport in oz (though they all seemed to know about it when I lived there and the Wallabies won) but it’s still one of their biggest international games. Their default defence every time they lose a test is rugby’s a minor sport. Hey, it ain’t half as minor as League, which, outside of Australia, is played in a few Auckland suburbs.
But union is a minor sport within oz. In NZ its life and death whereas many see the game overcomplicated and boring due to the amount of rules and importance of kicking. Go to a Bledisloe game in Sydney, half the crowd are kiwis who have moved here. Likewise in Perth where they stage a test against SA pretty much every year to attract the Bok expats. The game has been dying a slow death for years now in Australia.
Union rarely gets mentioned in the papers and if it does its typically found after the horse racing or the adverts for brothels and escorts. Same with prime time news or sports shows where the panel give it mere seconds of air time and rarely accompany it with video highlights. League is a joke of a sport and played pretty much nowhere outside of Oceania but it certainly rules the roost in NSW and in QLD, with AFL arguably the biggest in Victoria. The sporting market in oz is ridiculously competitive.
Aussie rugby embraced professionalism better than many nations and were blessed with some outrageous talent such as Eales, Larkham, Gregan, Campese.. Other nations have since taken over and the fact that up until recently union was only available on pay TV made it inaccessible for the majority of the population. Add in that the sport is still mostly available only to students in affluent schools, there is no domestic competition to rival SA ‘s Currie Cup or NZ’s ITM cup (one just began a week ago but only one match a week gets televised and again only on pay tv), the ARU bleeding cash each year and foreign clubs throwing ridiculous amounts at top wallaby talent, Australia’s player depth is limited in quality.
Yep I agree it’s rugby league cricket Aussie rules then rugby union!!
Anys I still think that’s good Aussie side thats made a lot of progress but,let’s be real here this all blacks team from 08 until now is probably greatest side of all time!!
No surprise Australia got smashed, the All Blacks were simply awesome and at times looked like they had double the players on the pitch. From 1 to 15 every player was relentless and had twice the impact of their opposing numbers.
McKenzie’s squad selection was baffling. Choosing Beale, who has played 12 all year for the Tahs and who has already been tried and found wanting at 10 in test footy this year and last over Foley who at 10 led the Waratahs to the super rugby championship and a series whitewash over France only a few months ago is downright confusing. The Aussie pack has progressed little since the Lions tests. England will be licking their lips with the WC on the horizon.