|
Action Images plc
| Two for the price of one!
Tri Nations and Bledisloe Cup
26 - 12 |
It was certainly a tale of two very different halves. You would have found it difficult to fit a fag paper between the All Blacks and the Wallabies during the first 40 minutes. The rain lashed down from warm up time onwards and the pitch resembled a paddling pool. We all knew that it was unlikely that we would see too many tries - and we were right.
The rugby was powerful and ferocious even if it was not very pretty. Both teams had a lot to lose (and win) and it was the decider for both the Tri Nations of 2007 and the Bledisloe Cup. The first half seemed to sway towards the Wallabies who were spurred on with an unlikely drop goal from Matt Giteau - nobody could really tell if it had gone over the bar or not - even Matt himself was not convinced. Following a scrutiny from the video ref it was awarded. However, although Australia were poking their noses out in front, the half time score put the All Blacks in front, 12 - 9.
The second half saw a re-vitalised All Blacks side who dominated the match, even though the much reverred Chris Latham was brought on for the Aussies - he was returning for his first match following a 'reconstruction' of his knee. Mistakes were rife and it was mainly a forwards game with little to take the breath away.
Tony Woodcock scored the only try of the match immediately after the All Blacks had been disallowed one at the base of the post. The final score was a fair representation of the match at 26-12 and the All Blacks continue their advance on the World Cup trophy.
It was the last time that both George Gregan, now with 134 caps, and Stephen Larkham will be playing for their country on Southern Hemisphere soil. The next stop? France. Both will be greatly missed as they were the definite leaders on the pitch today. Byron Kelleher (9 for All Blacks) also played his last home game for his country - the emotion was obviously running very high for him as we think we may have seen a tear or two during the anthems (quickly brished away for a slightly different expression for the Haka!!)
With the Tri Nations now over, all international eyes are on the World Cup. Bring it on! We will be keeping you all up to date with what is going on, on and off the pitch, so keep calling in.....
|
