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Bledisloe Cup
Richie McCaw of the All Blacks performs the haka before the 2010 Tri-Nations Bledisloe Cup match between the Australian Wallabies and the New Zealand All Blacks at ANZ Stadium on September 11, 2010 in Sydney, Australia.
(September 10, 2010 -All Photos by Hannah Johnston/Getty Images AsiaPac)
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All Blacks end Tri-Nations unbeaten
Another Wallaby second-half meltdown handed New Zealand their tenth straight win over Australia on Saturday as they won 23-22 in Sydney.
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After being on top for the best part of 65 minutes, Australia saw their 22-9 lead disappear in the final fifteen minutes as Richie McCaw's men turned on the class when it mattered most.
The result also means New Zealand extend their winning run in all Tests to fourteen.
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Australia's 14-6 half-time lead was a fair reflection of a high-paced first 40 minutes. Each side had been denied a try by mere inches and one mistake by Victor Vito was enough to allow the hosts to cross the whitewash first.
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The truth be told, Australia could easily have been further ahead as Matt Giteau had left eight points behind (and another two in the second half) with an inconsistent performance from the kicking tee.
It was all going to plan for the men in gold, who looked to have the result wrapped up as they entered the final straight.
Was it fatigue from the long trip back from South Africa? Burnout after three Tests in as many weeks? Lack of conditioning? Whatever it was, the hosts simply weren't the same side in the final quarter as the All Blacks' old tactic of turning up the heat at the death worked once again.
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Moment of the match: It was almost in the bag until, the in the 67th minute, the Wallaby scrum went backwards (again). It gave McCaw that half-second head start he needed to evade Rocky Elsom and break clear to score.
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Conrad Smith of the All Blacks makes a break
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All Blacks: The great escape - seniors show way
By Wynne Gray
The giant Sydney scoreboard glowed 22-9 to the Wallabies with just 13 minutes to run.
But as the Wallabies and the bulk of the 70,288 crowd dared to consider breaking their losing streak against the All Blacks, captain Richie McCaw gave several curt orders.
It was all about keeping an ice-cold brain in the red-hot atmosphere.
McCaw scored, fortuitously, from the subsequent scrum move, Kieran Read soon after and with Piri Weepu's flawless kicking, the side squeaked home 23-22. Job done, as the Wallabies left the ground in despair and disbelief.
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It had been a rough night for the All Blacks. Their new combinations misfired, rookie Aaron Cruden could not find the right tempo and direction while Victor Vito's defensive slip conceded a try.
But then the All Blacks' power of mind and self-belief took over.
Saturday's 10th straight win over the Wallabies brought a comeback to match the one in Soweto last month.
"We were behind on the scoreboard, but if you start worrying about the score you're not going to do what you plan anyway," McCaw said. "When it came down to getting things right, the guys you expect to do that were the ones that did."
The senior players showed the way and the others soaked it all up.
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Kurtley Beale of the Wallabies makes a break
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Deans seeing real progress
despite a marked improvement from this year's first Bledisloe Cup Test in Melbourne when the Wallabies were thumped 49-28, Deans says he refuses to settle for nearly being good enough.
"It's evident that the group is progressing. But the All Blacks are still the benchmark," Deans said after Saturday's latest setback.
"The step's not enormous but it is going to take an effort. We've just got to keep going, it's that simple. You don't become number one in the world without an effort.
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Deans said the most pleasing aspect of his team's Tri-Nations campaign was the development of a Wallaby squad he feels has the depth to carry the team into next year's World Cup.
"There are any number of players who are integral, the good thing is the number who have integrated into our team," he said.
"I take great heart from that, not the fact that we're closer on the scoreboard."
Australia finished second in this year's Tri-Nations behind the All Blacks after beating the world champion Springboks in two of their three encounters.
The Wallabies will face the All Blacks in a fourth Bledisloe Cup match in Hong Kong on October 30 before embarking on their end-of-season European tour.
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James O'Connor of the Wallabies is tackled
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Match Report - Heartbreak again for the Wallabies
Story by: ARU
You can almost hear Qantas Wallabies fans across the country scream in frustration.
It was heartbreak again for the Men of Gold, and Wallabies fans, as once again the All Blacks came from behind to score two late tries and snatch an unlikely 23-22 victory in the Bledisloe Cup Test match at ANZ Stadium tonight, played in front of a huge crowd of 70,288.
Australia blew a 13-point lead to suffer a record 10th straight Bledisloe Cup Test loss.
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Richie McCaw of the All Blacks crosses for a try
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Self belief helps All Blacks come out on top
By Sean Fitzpatrick
There was a huge anticipation in the lead-up to this match about how the All Blacks would go but they came through brilliantly.
I'm not sure they would have won a game like this 12 months ago. But there's a real belief about this side and they came out on top despite the absence of Daniel Carter and despite the number of changes made to what had been a settled side.
They struggled at times to overcome those changes in combinations but they never wavered in their belief.
They have a great leadership team, not only with Richie McCaw and Mils Muliaina but also with Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith. That has allowed players such as Keiran Read, my man of the Tri Nations, to flourish.
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What we have seen in this Tri Nations is the selectors putting out the best team week in, week out, and we have seen the benefits of that.
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I was very proud of McCaw last night. He's a wonderful, wonderful All Black and I couldn't think of anyone better to take over as the most capped All Black captain.
He deserves every accolade that comes his way and I take my hat off to him.
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The All Blacks and Wallabies players compete for the ball from a kick
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All Blacks under the pump, but mentally tough to win
By James Mortimer
It was far from the polished All Blacks machine that has won seven of their nine tests this year by better than a ten point margin, but they showed the one aspect that truly defines a championship side.
The ability to win even when appearing to be the second best team for periods of the match.
In the first half, the Investec Tri Nations champions were by and large comprehensively outplayed by the Wallabies, and after 60 minutes had past it looked as if a 22-9 score line would be enough to secure victory and break a nine match Trans-Tasman losing streak.
The All Blacks dropped more balls and grounded more passes than in any other test this season, as a team featuring the most test-to-test changes this tournament struggled to get into their rhythm.
Credit must obviously go to the Wallabies, as the All Blacks management predictions of a far tougher green and gold machine bore true.
In each of the three tests this year, the Australian’s have shown improvement (lost by 21 points in Melbourne, 10 in Christchurch and 1 in Sydney), and while the All Blacks are clearly ahead of the pack as the best team in world rugby, that gap as evidenced tonight will continue to be abridged in the coming months.
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These All Blacks, despite misfiring at times throughout the test, showed they are a class team.
They were able to score 17 unanswered points against a Wallabies side that on this display deservedly holds second position in the world rankings.
It was far from the professional black clad machine – a rugby team that sets itself impeccable standards – that has now won 15 straight test matches, but showed that even under pressure and after struggling to find their groove, they were mentally tough enough to win.
And of all the traits that will see them march on the 2011 Rugby World Cup confidently, it is this uncanny mindset these All Blacks have that they can win no matter what the odds.
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Mils Muliaina of the All Blacks fends off Lachie Turner of the Wallabies
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'Beautiful' New Zealand victory
Skipper Richie McCaw says the ability of his fellow senior players to rise to the occasion when the pressure was on proved the difference in New Zealand's miraculous come-from-behind 23-22 win over the Wallabies at ANZ Stadium.
As always McCaw, who led the All Blacks out to battle for the 52nd time on Saturday to surpass Sean Fitzpatrick as the most capped Kiwi captain in history, played a leading role in the victory after scoring the match-turning try on 67 minutes.
But typically, the 29-year-old was quick to deflect the praise onto his team-mates after his side notched a record 10th consecutive victory over Robbie Deans' men.
"When you get in situations like that out there the key is to be composed and keep believing in what you're doing," McCaw explained.
"We trained all week how we wanted to play and perhaps the first 50 minutes we didn't execute it and we were behind on the scoreboard."
"When it came down to having to get things right, the guys that you expect to do that were putting their hand up and that's what I see as pleasing."
"And then the guys that haven't been through that experience before can sort of follow on and do what the rest are doing, so it's not rocket science at all. It's just everyone being on the same page and doing it well I think."
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Coach Graham Henry was equally delighted with his side's ability to respond in a crisis.
"I'm stoked," Henry said.
"Character, character, first, second and third. I thought the guys got better as the game went on, we were pretty rusty initially and it's all very well saying you have a rest but when you have a break for three weeks you get a bit of rust."
"And we had a few new guys who hadn't played a lot of Test match football as well and it took them a wee while to settle down."
"But the guys just showed huge character really and just hung in there and got better as the game went on and pulled it out of the fire. (It was) beautiful."
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Will Genia of the Wallabies makes a break
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next test:
New Zealand v Australia
Oct 30
Hong Kong
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