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New Zealand completed a clean sweep in the 2009 Bledisloe Cup on Saturday with a 32-19 win over Australia in Tokyo.
The Wallabies got off to a good start but faded as the match went on and were unable to score in the second half.
Australia led 16-13 at half time after a Peter Hynes try cancelled out an earlier score from All Blacks wing Sitiveni Sivivatu.
Sivivatu has rounded off a fabulous team effort to put New Zealand ahead after two Matt Giteau penalties had given Australia an early lead.
But the Wallabies were able to wrestle the lead back when Sivivatu earned a yellow card for taking Adam Ashley-Cooper out in the air.
The All Blacks move back in front shortly after the break when centre Conrad Smith broke clear to score.
Dan Carter added three more penalties to seal the deal for New Zealand.
It was a more committed Australian side who showed they had regained their physicality to put the experience of Wellington and their 33-6 loss to the All Blacks in their last encounter behind them.
But they were still unable to find the finesse to put the All Blacks under sufficient pressure.
Number eight Wycliff Paul twice went close to scoring, being held up on the line the first time, and losing the ball in the tackle the second time.
Handling mistakes proved costly on several occasions for the Wallabies.
Half-back Will Genia, inside centre Adam Ashley-Cooper and wing Digby Ioane were each slippery on attack but were unable to head off the All Blacks cover defence.
New Zealand's performance was not as dominant as in Wellington but with all the emphasis on coaching changes the lineout proved more competitive from the outset.
Australia did make the most of the sin-binning of wing Sitiveni Sivivatu after a dangerous tackle on an airborne Ashley-Cooper and wing Peter Hynes was awarded a controversial try soon after when referee Mark Lawrence became frustrated at the delay in the decision-making of a Japanese television match official.
Earlier, clever All Blacks handling overcame determined Australian defence to produce the first try of the game after Matt Giteau had landed two penalty goals to one by Dan Carter.
Carter took a heavy hit but still managed to recycle the ball and half-back Jimmy Cowan threw a long pass to flanker Richie McCaw who in-passed to lock Tom Donnelly.
He linked with full-back Mils Muliaina and he found McCaw in support and his pass outside found wing Sitiveni Sivivatu in the clear.
Carter landed a conversion from wide out for a 10-6 lead.
Giteau and Carter exchanged penalty goals in the 29th and 30th minutes.
Australia struck back after Sivivatu's sin-binning and moved the ball to wing Peter Hynes, with Genia firing a long pass from a maul.
Hynes was in the clear but three All Blacks cover defenders looked to get him as he dived at the line. Referee Mark Lawrence called for the television match official to see if Hynes grounded the ball short of the line.
Initial replays were inconclusive but Lawrence lost patience with the amount of time taken and ruled the try had been scored. Giteau landed a fine conversion to give Australia a 16-13 lead.
Moments later, after some poor All Blacks decision-making, Palu ran off the back of a scrum toward the line but was unable to ground the ball as Cowan got under him and the All Blacks were able to survive until the half-time whistle.
Sivivatu marked his return with a 60-metre kick which hit the corner post and when Australia cleared downfield Muliaina ran the ball upfield to link with Carter.
From the maul the ball was moved to wing Cory Jane standing at first receiver.
He threaded through the defence and passed to centre Conrad Smith who stepped through the Australians and went over for a 45th-minute try.
Penalty goals to Carter took the All Blacks to a 26-16 lead before Giteau landed his fourth to bring Australia back to the seven-point margin.
But almost immediately Carter landed a fifth penalty goal to regain the 10-point margin.
Carter's fourth penalty goal brought up his 200th point in Tests against Australia.
The scorers:
For Australia:
Try:Hynes
Pens:Giteau 3
For New Zealand:
Tries:Sivivatu, Smith
Cons:Carter 2
Pens: Carter 5
Yellow card: Sivivatu ( NZ - 33rd min - dangerous tackle);
Australia: 15 James O'Connor, 14 Peter Hynes, 13 Ryan Cross, 12 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 11 Digby Ioane, 10 Matt Giteau, 9 Will Genia, 8 Wycliff Palu, 7 David Pocock, 6 Rocky Elsom, 5 Mark Chisholm, 4 James Horwill, 3 Ben Alexander, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Benn Robinson.
Replacements: 16 Stephen Moore, 17 Matt Dunning, 18 Dean Mumm, 19 George Smith, 20 Luke Burgess, 21 Drew Mitchell, 22 tbc.
New Zealand: 15 Mils Muliaina, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Sitiveni Sivivatu, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Rodney So'oialo, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Adam Thomson, 5 Tom Donnelly, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Neemia Tialata, 2 Andrew Hore, 1 Tony Woodcock
Replacements: 16 Corey Flynn, 17 John Afoa, 18 Jason Eaton, 19 Kieran Read, 20 Brendon Leonard, 21 Stephen Donald, 22 Zac Guildford.
Venue: Olympic Stadium
Referee: Mark Lawrence (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Craig Joubert, Taizo Hirabayashi (Japan)
Television match officials: Akihisa Aso (Japan)
Assessor: Bob Francis (New Zealand)
By Richard Anderson
Comments
Vagabond says...
In reply to Shades comments.
I totally agree with you that the game was not the spectacle that it could have been but I think it's more to do with the laws of the game. The defensive patterns of todays teams are so good that the best strategy seems to be playing for field position and hoping for a penalty in the oppositions playing quarter.
Posted 21:59 01st November 2009
shades says...
was expecting more firepower and flair from both teams, instead the game was pretty average..as a nuetral was disappointing to watch all those stars playing technical dominance..the game should be played at pace and with dazzling footwork for a truly global following..entertaining rugby is what the public love to see and australia and nz have truckloads of such talent instead choose not to explode with that style of rugby on the field..australias centres needed more confidence yesterday thats where they lost the match
Posted 03:47 01st November 2009
Trinats says...
Thanks for the lesson Apodeictic. Freudian slip, I just can't bring myself to say McCa..... it eats me up !!!!
RE: markgcorcoran. For the record (even with my one eye) I didn't think it was a try either, but we have had the wrong rub far too many times, so I'll take it. Though Smith's try just after the break last pass was a forward pass, and on reply shows clearly but poo happens, the better team won on the night. Congrats.
Posted 03:20 01st November 2009
justice_4_all says...
Great rugby. Enjoyed every minute. The NH is in for a big surprise. I can't wait. My 3 favourite teams smashing their way to the try line again and again. Long Live the Trinations....the real home of rugby.
Posted 20:18 31st October 2009
Apodeictic says...
@Trinats: I think you mean McCaw and not "McCall".
Re 4 UK teams: You're not quite right either. More like 3½ UK teams (or 3 and some fraction). Unlike in soccer where there are separate national teams for the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, in rugby there is just *one* team that represents *all* of Ireland which includes both the Republic (not part of the UK) and Northern Ireland (part of the UK).
Anyway, there's no need to say "the 4 UK teams" (which as you pointed out is not quite correct, although you weren't strictly correct either). You can get around this problem by saying "the four home nations" or the "four home unions" which in rugby parlance means England, Ireland (both North and South), Scotland and Wales collectively.
@markgcorcoran: That's a silly thing to say. If your team had been awarded the try would you be saying the same thing? The TV pictures weren't really conclusive. He may have grounded it before the line or he may have grounded it on/over the line. In a situation like that it's fair enough for the ref to award a try.
Posted 18:09 31st October 2009
Trinats says...
I hate McCall, he's too good, when does he retire?.
credit to the kiwis, coming back again after being down at half time, courtesy of our league convert who can't defend. .
we looked too flat in the backline tonight. wonder if Barnes factor upset it, or Macall closed us down ??? Forwards played well and looked hungry (bar the lineout) .
I'll take the positives out of it (it's all we have for now) Our young side can only get better, we just need to finish off after half time and hold onto the ball and not force the pass, (too many knock-ons)
.
I hope Bundy rum will sponsor me next year, that's another 4 bottles of run I owe my kiwi mate this season.
ABenzed, it's 3 UK teams and one Irish team (Ireland is a republic and not part of the UK)
Posted 17:23 31st October 2009
markgcorcoran says...
Yes a fair result, the right result. Only disappointment was the fact that now apparently you can score a try by grounding the ball before the goal line!
Posted 15:26 31st October 2009
Vagabond says...
The better team won. After this loss I'm not angry like after Wellington, the effort was there, the execution was not. We were beaten by a more clinical and crafty New Zealand at the breakdown. Time and again they were able to slow our ball down, illegally some might say but then again, if you get away with it...
Our back line never had the chance to fire because the ball never came quick enough but there were still a few shining lights. Again Adam Ashley-Cooper was our best attacking player while Digby Ioane, Will Genia and Peter Hynes deserve a mention. David Pocock was inspirational while Rocky Elsom was surprisingly quiet compared to his usual high standards.
Full credit to a hungry and clinical New Zealand team. Your forwards fired and your backs, while provided a stable attacking platform, were as dangerous as always.
The Wallabies need to keep this level of intensity but get the execution back into their game. The breakdown and line out were a mess but the scrum was reasonably solid. All in all, I think we have enough in our game to comfortably account for England (injury ravaged) and Scotland, however Wales and Ireland will be a different story all together. These two test should be a terrific spectacle to watch against opposition more at our level than the Springboks and All Blacks who have edged ahead of the pack.
Posted 12:34 31st October 2009
ABenzed says...
Good game.... wasnt the waste of time PR thought after all. Aussie for the Grand Slam ???? Need to improve ability to play 80 minutes then they will have good chance of putting away the four UK teams.
All Blacks looked quite good in patches especially with ball in hand.
Posted 10:49 31st October 2009