Rugby World Cup Semi-Final Match Report: New Zealand 20 – 6 Australia
New Zealand put in a dominant performance against Australia who were unable to breach the All Black barricade meaning the hosts will be facing off against France next Sunday in the World Cup Final.
With the opponent already decided in the form of France, the All Blacks had the chance to keep their World Cup dream alive against nearest and dearest rivals for the trophy, Australia.
As the saying goes its not where you start, its where you finish. The way Australia started, it seemed they had a disregard for their own success from the off as they were completely dominated by the All Blacks, and it was no surprise Manu Nonu dived over in the corner after only five minutes.
Coopers kick off straight into touch set the tone, and the ensuing Weepu kick to within inches of the corner flag, the resultant lineout and attempts to run the ball from under their own posts and a couple of dangerous runs by Israel Dagg resulted in James OConner carrying the ball over his own line, gifting New Zealand a five metre scrum from which Nonu eventually scored.
With the weight of expectation now firmly entrenched on the shoulders and (impressive) beard of Piri Weepu after last weeks display, he failed with the conversion and struck the upright with his next attempted penalty before finding the space between the posts at the third attempt to create an eight point cushion.
After almost fifteen minutes of black it was time for a flash of gold as Aussie winger Ioane hit a brilliant line and, blink and you missed it, Australia were on New Zealands line. The pressure told and Richie McCaw was caught characteristically dabbling in the ruck in the shadow of his posts allowing OConner to take the three.
Owen Franks began his battle against opposite man Kepu in the scrum with a tick in his column, winning the penalty as the pressure told on the bindings. Weepu again missed, but you felt even now that his lack of accuracy wouldnt be as crucial as Wales misses yesterday. As if to make amends on behalf of his half back partner, Aaron Cruden reminded everyone he was in the ten shirt now with his first ever Test match drop goal.
Not one to shy away from attention, even Quade Cooper would have preferred some privacy as Richard Kahuiq lined him up perfectly as he took a high ball, much to the enjoyment of the crowd. Cooper did not look like a man comfortable with the task in front of him. A penalty from a scrum meant Australia at last had the ball for an extended period, working their way into the New Zealand 22 allowing Quade Cooper to copy Cruden by simply slotting over a drop goal to the irritation of the Eden Park crowd.
Ashley-Cooper strayed offside to let Weepu add another three points and bar a little bit of handbags when the Aussies were turned over, that was it for the first half with New Zealand the much happier side.
The second half had barely started before Weepu got the three points he needed to take his tally of international points to 100 courtesy of McCabe not releasing in the tackle.
Increasingly it felt like New Zealand were toying with Australia, letting them have the ball and go through the phases to within a position of potential before snatching the ball back off them just when the threat looked likely to escalate.
Australia upped the intensity but the All Black defence stood firm, the game oscillating between the two 22 metre lines, a river of replacements flowing through both sides now.
Another Cruden drop goal attempt this time went wide as the game entered the final quarter, as a score for either side became the most likely decider.
The dancing feet of Cooper simultaneously enthralled and terrified any watching neutrals, his team mates occasionally struggling to operate on the same virtuoso wave length leading almost to their downfall, one fingertip charge down of OConner catching the collective breath.
With the scores at 17-6, an eleven point deficit slowly grew into a yawning chasm for Australia with time running out, the chances of winning this match petering out.
With the game resembling something more often seen in the other hemisphere, the flair of these two sides was replaced by ferocity, each subduing the others endeavours through the sheer attritional way the defences were going about their business.
The forward packs continued to battle and eventually the All Blacks managed to send their oppositions front row skywards for Weepu to dissect the posts with a penalty meaning Australia needed a seemingly insurmountable two converted tries in seven minutes. The cheers and applause of the home crowd became more and more celebratory than encouraging with the dominance of the All Blacks and inevitability of the result beginning to set in.
With five minutes to go, in the quietest of breathes I will say the referee, Craig Joubert, had a good game, remaining thankfully unnoticeable before rightly sending Sonny Bill Williams to the sin bin for a shoulder shot on Cooper, despite having only been on the field a matter of minutes. No other referee had taken charge of as many games as Joubert at this World Cup and given the performance of his peers of late, must surely be the man in the middle next Sunday.
One more adventure to the All Black line by Australia was almost inevitably picked apart by the defence, Richie McCaw defying any suggestion his powers had been diminished by his troublesome foot that had denied him the ability to train all week.
A series of reset Australian scrums the clock guided over the eightieth minute and one last attempt down the wing was dismantled, the ball kicked through only for Quade Cooper to be powerless to do anything but be thrown into touch and hear the referee bring the game to an end to the ecstatic reaction of the home crowd as they celebrated an appearance next Sunday in the World Cup Final.
It seems ridiculous that we have had to wait until this stage to see a performance as impressive as this from the All Blacks. And yet it still wasnt for the attacking power they undoubtedly have that made this performance admirable. The defence was thunderous and the forward effort unbending. Try as they may the Australians could not find a way through. Iaone looked the most likely to make something happen but this was always down to his raw speed and power rather than a well worked opportunity. Will Genia fizzed around but there was no explosion outside him, Cooper struggling and the centres not adding much, Faingaa particularly anonymous. The loss of Kurtley Beale last week was a blow but one man would not have made the difference.
As a collective effort this was the best the All Blacks have put together so far this tournament, and lest we forget the absence of a certain Mr. Carter on the team sheet. Piri Weepu is slowly becoming the new poster boy for the All Black effort; one more performance with enough kicks going through will no doubt secure him a place in the pantheon of All Black greats. If they win of course.
On reflection of the two winning performances this weekend, a French victory would be a huge injustice to the rugby neutral and a smack in the face of anyone who believes good rugby should win matches.
France are doing what England did in 2007 and it makes it clearer why everyone hates the English. Success through awfulness. Coming out of the group stages no one was looking at France as likely finalists and yet here we are. The French beat England because they pulled it together for 50 minutes before running out of steam. The same can be said for the Wales game, the experience and un-French discipline allowing them to close out the game for the win. And that refereeing decision.
Against New Zealand they will have to try something different, they will have to try and win the game for the full eighty minutes. Allowing New Zealand as much time, territory and possession as they did with Wales yesterday will be fatal. The only way to beat the All Blacks is outscore them on the scoreboard, not contain them.
Most finals are tense, tight affairs, with low scores and generally not very attractive rugby, the emotion of the occasion making them the memorable and classic games they become. But I think this final more than any other recent final has the potential to see a sizeable winning margin. The All Blacks are in a better position anyway, never mind the fact it is on home turf. Itll be interesting to see if Lievremont, in his final game in charge, decides to make any changes or continue with his blinkered selection policy. But if the two teams selected this weekend were picked again, I would expect the Webb Ellis trophy not be leaving New Zealand for the foreseeable future.