THE Wallabies showed plenty of resilience but were unable to prevent the All Blacks from securing a Bledisloe clean sweep.
New Zealand secured a 37-20 win at Yokohama to complete the Aussies’ trans-Tasman misery.
6.50pm
Second half — Wallabies ‘have no respect’
The referee told Michael Hooper his troops weren’t behaving.Source:AFP
80th min — FULLTIME: NZ 37 AUS 20
78th min — TRY: New Zealand had the perfect response to Folau’s late points, posting another try to snuff out any hopes of an Aussie upset. The All Blacks shifted the ball wide — using a through-the-legs pass to help out at one point — and Rieko Ioane finished off the classy move. NZ 37 AUS 20
75th min — TRY: Israel Folau made up for his eariler blunder by crossing for a five-pointer of his own, cutting inside from the right inside the Kiwis’ 22m zone. NZ 32 AUS 20
70 mins — TRY: Tolu Latu was sent to the sin bin for reacting to a bit of argy bargy and putting his palm in Codie Taylor’s face but the All Blacks didn’t need their one-man advantage as Israel Folau gifted them a match-sealing try. Folau broke through several tackles on his way to halfway and knowing the Wallabies were desperate for points he threw a speculative one-handed offload as he was brought to ground. But the loose pass found Kiwi winger Ben Smith who ran downfield to score. NZ 32 AUS 13
63rd min — Fresh legs didn’t help the Wallabies as their substitutes got on the wrong side of the referee. The whistleblower accused the new additions of failing to “respect” the mark at lineout time as he blew a penalty for another set piece infringement and voiced his frustration with the reserves. “All the new players have no respect for the mark,” he told Wallabies captain Michael Hooper.
59th min — TRY: The Wallabies had the better of the second half but New Zealand put a dagger through Australian hearts. The Kiwis won a scrum after the men in gold were pinged for a lineout throw that didn’t go straight — a problem they’ve had throughout the Rugby Championship — and the ensuing set play worked perfectly. Kieran Read went right before switching back to the left as Rieko Ioane found space, and the winger passed to an unmarked Beauden Barrett, who raced past to score his side’s third try. NZ 27 AUS 13
53rd min — PENALTY: Beauden Barrett slotted a penalty goal to give his team a seven-point buffer. NZ 20 AUS 13
50th min — Beauden Barrett got in behind the defensive line with two clever grubbers but Bernard Foley put in a lung-busting effort to fall on the ball before the All Blacks flyhalf could regather close to the tryline. It was a rare piece of attacking play from New Zealand as the Wallabies dominated the first 10 minutes of the second half.
This is much more like it from the Wallabies. Holding the ball, finding the breaks. Come on @qantaswallabies #NZLvAUS
46th min — Rob Simmons looked certain to crash over for another Australian five-pointer but some desperate tryline defence saw him turned onto his back and he was unable to get the ball down. The Wallabies were awarded a penalty for an earlier infringement and Bernard Foley cut the deficit to four. NZ 17 AUS 13
5.45pm
First half — Aussies give Kiwis a taste of their own medicine
Australia was holding on despite the Kiwis having all the ball in the opening half.Source:AFP
39th min — TRY: Sefa Naivalu hit back almost immediately to close the gap, crossing in the corner on the stroke of halftime after a spread to the left wing. Normally it’s the Kiwis doing the damage before the break but this time the Wallabies had the last say for a change. NZL 17 AUS 10
36th min — TRY: As they’ve done so often against the Aussies, New Zealand made the most of the five-minute period before halftime. Kieran Read broke from the back of a scrum close to the line and crossed the stripe. Wallabies captain Michael Hooper spoke pre-game of the need to eliminate lapses just before and after halftime but his side’s biggest weakness was brutally exposed once again. NZ 17 AUS 3
25th min — PENALTY: New Zealand hit back with a three-pointer of its own to regain its seven-point lead. NZ 10 AUS 3
21st min — PENALTY: In the face of a Kiwi onslaught the Aussies got on the board courtesy of a Kurtley Beale penalty goal. NZ 7 AUS 3
11th min — TRY: After the Aussies’ electric start it was all New Zealand and the Kiwis turned their weight of possession into scoreboard dominance when breakaway Liam Squire was the beneficiary of a classy move from a scrum inside the 22 that saw him slice through the defence and open the scoring with a five-pointer. NZ 7 AUS 0
6th min — Aussie halfback Will Genia made a try-saving tackle on Rieko Ioane as the All Blacks started to find their groove.
1st min — It went from ecstasy to agony for the Wallabies as Israel Folau made the perfect start to his stint in the No. 13 jersey, making a break down the left touchline and finding open space to propel Australia deep into opposition territory. But the Aussies were denied the opening try when the TMO ruled Dane Haylett-Petty didn’t get the ball down in the corner in the face of some brilliant cover defence.
3.45pm
Folau gamble sets up mouth-watering match-up
Folau’s positional switch will put him closer to SBW.Source:News Corp Australia
A rivalry that’s spanned more than a decade, multiple code-hops and plenty of off-field theatre finally throws Sonny Bill Williams and Israel Folau together, face-to-face.
Williams is welcoming the collision of two of Australasian sports highest- profile stars when they meet in the midfield for the first time in Saturday’s Bledisloe Cup Test in Yokohama.
It’s their fifth rugby union start against each other but Folau has always previously been fullback for the Wallabies and Williams at inside centre for the All Blacks.
It’s been that same dynamic in Super Rugby while their only two rugby league showdowns pitted Williams in the second row against Folau out wide — when the Bulldogs met Melbourne in 2007 and an Anzac Test the following year.
Folau has found himself on the wing in recent times but injuries have seen coach Michael Cheika gamble by throwing him into the unfamiliar position of outside centre this week in the hopes of sparking the Wallabies’ stuttering attack and preventing a 3-0 clean sweep by the men in black.
Williams expects him to be a handful wearing the no. 13 jersey.
“He pops up everywhere. He might be carrying more off set piece but he does that from wing as well,” Williams said. “He’s a quality player, a world class player, and he’ll fit in anywhere.”
The pair share more than outrageous talent. Off the field, their personas have been bigger than the game at times, attracting ardent fans and critics in equal numbers.
Both have become devoutly religious, with Folau finding himself castigated earlier this year for expressing anti-gay beliefs.
Williams, 33, didn’t go near criticising his 29-year-old counterpart when asked to assess Folau’s veering away from the mainstream path.
“Firstly congratulations to Izzy. He’s come a long way and really done well for the Australian Rugby Union,” Williams said.
“You always like seeing other Pacific Islanders doing well in what they do. For me, you just find your purpose and go with it. And try to be a positive person. That’s how I try and operate.”
Williams will earn his 50th cap on Saturday and Folau his 70th. It says something about the teams’ fortunes that the Kiwi star has won 45 of his Tests and Folau just 32.
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika doesn’t expect Folau to spend much time defending Williams and preventing his trademark offload.
That task is likely to fall on Kurtley Beale, one place further in. “When Williams gets going and he can get his arms free he’s pretty difficult to stop,” Cheika said.
“But I think they’ll be challenging the little blokes more than Izzy and I back Beale.”
— Daniel Gilhooly and Darren Walton, AAP
3.30pm
Captain calls for special effort
Michael Hooper is desperate to taste success against the All Blacks.Source:Getty Images
Wallabies captain Michael Hooper is imploring his troops to dig deep in a desperate attempt to restore hope in Australian rugby with a face-saving victory over the All Blacks on Saturday.
Had they not produced the biggest comeback in top-level Test history against Argentina in Salta earlier this month, the Wallabies would have finished last in the Rugby Championship.
The 38-13 and 40-12 losses to the All Blacks in August also ensured the Bledisloe Cup will stay in New Zealand for a 16th consecutive year. Hooper is demanding improvement and says working off the ball for the full 80 minutes will be key in Yokohama, after collapsing in the second halves in Sydney and Auckland.
“There’s a lot of good individual ball players out there, there’s a lot of good people who can run the ball, tackle well,” the flanker said after Friday’s captain’s run.
“But it’s the periods in between those moments when you’re getting set to allow our team to show its system, allow our team to play the shape it can and ultimately let the individuals do the work and finish the job.
“They’re the key moments and that’s something that the top teams have been doing very well for quite a while now, and the team we’re playing tomorrow has clearly been the best at it for a while.”
Hooper said the Wallabies had no trouble staying motivated for the trans-Tasman “dead rubber”.
“There’s always a heap of motivation playing for your country, there really is,” he said. “It’s a shame that we’re not playing for some silverware tomorrow or it’s not back in Australia, but that’s not the case.
“We’re out there tomorrow to build as a team.
“It’s been a narrow focus for us this week and we get our opportunity to play the No 1 team in the world.
“We’re competitive blokes, we’re in a high-performance environment, you want to be doing that, you want to be in these situations, you want to be out there when the lights are on.” Loose forward Pete Samu was the unlucky man to be left out of the 23-man match-day squad after coach Michael Cheika opted for three backs and five forwards on his bench.
An Australian win would see the Wallabies rise up the World Rugby standings to fourth, while the All Blacks — incredibly — would drop to second behind Ireland in the extremely unlikely event they lose by more than 16 points.
— AAP
3.15pm
Teams
WALLABIES: 15. Dane Haylett-Petty, 14. Sefa Naivalu, 13. Israel Folau, 12. Kurtley Beale, 11. Marika Koroibete, 10. Bernard Foley, 9. Will Genia, 8. David Pocock, 7. Michael Hooper (c), 6. Ned Hanigan, 5. Izack Rodda, 4. Rob Simmons, 3. Allan Alaalatoa, 2. Folau Fainga’a, 1. Scott Sio Reserves: Tolu Latu, Sekope Kepu, Taniela Tupou, Rory Arnold, Jack Dempsey, Nick Phipps, Samu Kerevi, Tom Banks
ALL BLACKS: 15. Damian McKenzie, 14. Ben Smith, 13. Ryan Crotty, 12. Sonny Bill Williams, 11. Rieko Ioane, 10. Beauden Barrett, 9. TJ Perenara, 8. Kieran Read (c), 7. Ardie Savea, 6. Liam Squire, 5. Sam Whitelock, 4. Scott Barrett, 3. Owen Franks, 2. Codie Taylor, 1. Joe Moody Reserves: Nathan Harris, Karl Tu’inukuafe, Nepo Laulala, Brodie Retallick, Matt Todd, Aaron Smith, Richie Mo’unga, Anton Lienert-Brown
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