AUCKLAND — New Zealand have retained the Bledisloe Cup with back-to-back victories over Australia, winning 50-19 in Auckland and 43-21 in Sydney, as the All Blacks dominated the second half of the first Test and the first half of the second to blow the Wallabies off the park.
Legendary All Blacks winger Sir John Kirwan said the results showed clear progress after the defeats to South Africa in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, even though Australia did not apply the same pressure as the Springboks. “I was really, really happy for 56 minutes, and I think we’ve really learned. The team is getting better, and that is the most important thing,” Kirwan said on the Rivals Rugby podcast. “Australia did not put us under the same pressure [as South Africa]. So, a lot of the things you can’t measure, but I think the team is getting better. I like the players that have come back in; I think Scott Barrett’s been amazing, and the good thing is when we’ve got injuries as we have, guys are stepping up. So for me, really, really happy.”
Former Springboks lock Victor Matfield agreed that Dave Rennie can take positives from the second Test, particularly given the disruption before and during the match. Jordie Barrett withdrew late, forcing a change in the centres, before Quinn Tupaea was forced off the pitch in the opening minutes. “The way the All Blacks were going in the first half, I thought this might be like a 70 or 80-point margin,” Matfield said. “It’s always difficult when you go in at half-time, and the game is won; there was no chance of them really coming back, but the All Blacks just lost a bit of shape, lost a bit of discipline. That first 40 was just unbelievable. The thing that they can be most happy about is that Jordie Barrett got injured before the game- probably one of your best players; someone else steps in, then Tupaea gets injured, Rieko comes on, and that’s the depth coming through. Look at fly-half: the two first-choice guys weren’t there, and still the other guys stepped up – very impressive from the All Blacks in the Bledisloe Cup Tests.”
Kirwan also praised the spectacle but criticised the intervention of the fourth official in the final quarter in Sydney, which he felt disrupted the rhythm after Australia had built momentum. His main grievance was the review of Cam Roigard’s action in denying Wallabies fly-half Declan Mederith a try around the hour mark. “Now, I don’t want to be controversial, but I thought in the last 25 minutes, with the TMO coming in for something silly, then a yellow card, it just broke up the rhythm of the game,” he said. “It was a great game from a rhythm point of view, and then in the last 25 minutes, the Aussies were getting on a roll and then the game broke up, and it sort of fell apart a wee bit. So the players and the coaches won’t be happy with the last 20 minutes.”
Kirwan said he still struggles to gauge how good the Wallabies are after the two Tests, noting Les Kiss’ side failed to test New Zealand as South Africa had, but insisted the All Blacks have learned from those earlier defeats and are benefiting from depth as injured players return and replacements step up.