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'One of their worst performances': Wallabies their own worst enemy at Eden Park
By Ned Lester
The Bledisloe Cup concluded Saturday with the All Blacks yet again coming away victorious while the Wallabies ill-discipline had them chasing the game early.
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Pundits on Sky’s The Breakdown all agreed Australia let themselves down in the second test, emphasising the start of the game was a sign that the Wallabies weren’t up for the challenge.
The All Blacks have shown their vulnerability in the opening minutes of tests this international season, with both Ireland and South Africa dominating the opening passage in the games they would go on to win.
The Wallabies on the other hand malfunctioned to open both tests, the first game saw them drop the ball off the initial kickoff and in the second they received a yellow card in the opening minutes.
“The big mistake that the Wallabies (made) was they let themselves down early, got in yellow card trouble,” Jeff Wilson said.
“They were down to 14 men, if you were going to win at Eden Park, you needed to start well, deny the All Blacks points.
“They were desperate and they weren’t in a position at any stage up until their first try, they hadn’t any control of this game.
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“The All Blacks put on a dominant performance against a Wallaby team that just didn’t back up.”
Much was made of the close nature of the first Bledisloe test, a strong comeback from the Wallabies in the second half was evidence of the team’s attacking ability and gave the Australians a lot of confidence heading into the second test according to Wallabies captain James Slipper.
The sequel however saw the Australians fail to fire in what was one of their worst performances, according to Sir John Kirwin.
“I think as individuals, the Wallabies will get up this morning and be really disappointed in themselves,” Kirwan said.
“I thought that was one of their worst performances, they needed to start well, they didn’t, there was some… that first yellow card, they were lucky both of them wasn’t a red.
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“I’m not saying it should have been a red, but it could have been.
“If you want beat the All Blacks, you cannot afford to make those mistakes early.”
Following losses to Ireland and South Africa, the All Blacks were then defeated by Argentina. They did manage to get some dominance to start that match and were winning at halftime only for Los Pumas to come out and score in the opening minutes of the second half and not relinquish the lead from there.
Another ex-All Black Mils Muliaina used the start of the second half as an example of the Australians’ inability to execute – making them the only All Blacks foe this year to not come away with a win against the Kiwis.
“It had the risk though, I think when you talk about that stuff that the All Blacks had, those missed opportunities, when they went into the break and they were 17 odd points up, it had the risk for the Australians to think ‘actually, we’re in this’ because they hadn’t played, they had yellow cards.
“Perhaps all those yellow cards, and all those penalties, one it mounted, but two, it probably zapped the Australians, I mean it really took a lot of juice out of their legs, they started to try and chase the game and that’s where I think the All Blacks lifted another level.”
