All Blacks take Tri-Nations
New Zealand retained their Tri-Nations title with a 24-28 victory over Australia in their Bledisloe Cup clash on Saturday.
By Simon Dilger
Last Updated: 13/09/08 1:51pm
New Zealand retained their Tri-Nations title with a 24-28 victory over Australia in their Bledisloe Cup clash on Saturday.
In a nail-biting encounter in Brisbane the All Blacks came back from a 10 point deficit to stamp their authority on the match, running in three tries in the final 30 minutes.
Australia, who had initially looked the more threatening side, squandered too many opportunities in the second half and left themselves too much to do, despite a last ditch score from Ryan Cross.
The Aussies had the first opportunity to open the scoring on four minutes when New Zealand were penalised at the lineout for tackling the jumper in the air.
Matt Giteau however could not find the distance and saw his kick fall just short for skipper Richie McCaw to dab down under his crossbar.
It was a combination of brilliant work by the All Blacks and poor defence from Australia that led to the first try of the game on 13 minutes.
Brilliant
Jimmy Cowan began the move with a quick tap from the free kick and a burst of speed through the Australian defence.
With too many defending the blind side, the Wallabies quickly found themselves running out of numbers as New Zealand exploited the overlap, Ma'a Nonu slipping the ball to Mils Muliaina for the full-back to cross on the right.
Dan Carter was on target with the conversion to add the extras and give New Zealand a seven point advantage.
Ten minutes later and Australia were able to notch up their first points, Giteau this time hitting the target from a penalty in front of the posts to close the gap to 3-7.
But on the stroke of half time the Wallabies turned the game on its head with a superb score from Adam Ashley Cooper following a tremendous cross field kick from Giteau to put the ball wide on the right
A brilliant take and offload from Peter Hynes while still airborne saw the full-back gratefully collect and slip two defenders to touch down in the corner.
Giteau was again on target from the touchline to send his side into the half-time break with a 10-7 lead.
Magic
Australia extended their lead soon after the restart and it was Giteau again who was in the thick of it.
The fly half started the move with a delightful dummy and then moved the ball wide to giant lock James Horwill, who brushed aside Carter to touch down in the corner.
Another near perfect kick from Giteau took the score to 17-7 and open up a ten point lead for the hosts.
The All Blacks however took just five minutes to reply, picking up a loose ball and moving it wide to Conrad Smith who sold the dummy and put prop Tony Woodcock over in the left corner.
Carter, not to be out done by Giteau, slotted his touchline conversion with perfection to close the gap back down to three points.
On 62 minutes the defending champions caught their Aussie rivals napping and retook the lead when Piri Weepu latched onto the recycled ball and barged over. Carter struck to make it 17-21 to the All Blacks.
Then, with 13 minutes to go, Carter broke Wallaby hearts with a little piece of magic, collecting the pass from 15 yards out to slip two defenders, duck under, turn inside and run in behind the posts.
The conversion from point blank range gave New Zealand an 11 point buffer at 17-28 and the Wallabies a mountain to climb.
But with the game seemingly over, it was centre Ryan Cross who fancied himself for high altitude work, showing some great footwork to crash over close to the posts in the 78th minute.
The video referee confirmed the score after a short wait and Giteau slotted the conversion to set up a nail-biting finale.
But it was not to be for the Wallabies and New Zealand clung on to celebrate yet another successful defence of their title.
