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Michael Cheika was full of admiration for his Australia side after they beat New Zealand for the first time in over two years but warned “you can’t rest until you get to the top”.
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Reece Hodge scored a try and added two superb penalties after taking over kicking duties from an out-of-sorts Bernard Foley, while Israel Folau and Marika Koroibete also went over as the Wallabies denied their trans-Tasman rivals a Bledisloe Cup clean sweep with a 23-18 win at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday.
Waisake Naholo and Rieko Ioane finished either side of half-time and Lima Sopoaga, starting after Beauden Barrett was ruled out, landed two penalties, but the All Blacks‘ seven-match winning run against the Wallabies came to an end in Brisbane.
Australia are unbeaten in five Tests and sit third in the world rankings but head coach Cheika said they still have plenty of work to do after such a sweet victory in former captain Stephen Moore’s final home Test.
“We might be improving but we’re still number three [in the world], having only just got back there,” said Cheika.
“You can’t rest until you get back to the top. One win against the world champions doesn’t win you anything.”
What. A. Night! #BledisloeCup #AUSvNZL pic.twitter.com/XNzEe7rZOB
— Wallabies (@wallabies) October 21, 2017
Cheika was proud of the way his players stood up to the challenge against Steve Hansen’s men after they overcame a disjointed first-half display, albeit in difficult conditions with the wet surface clearly causing problems.
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He added: “I know we didn’t win the cup, which is disappointing because I know how much we want it back here, but before the game I said you’ve got to fight for everything.
“I thought we did tonight and we were able to get the win.
“I think it’s the only way to put pressure on these guys. They’re so dominant in all the structured parts of the game.
“I felt like we had the fight in us tonight, we really wanted it, and so I trusted them to get the job done regardless.”
