AB coaches sing ref`s praises

Monday 04th August 2008 - www.planet-rugby.com

In a refreshing change from the mud slinging, finger pointing and accusations of cheating and bias that have often soured the opening rounds of this year's Tri-Nations, the All Blacks coaching team have commended South African referee Mark Lawrence for a job well-done.

Lawrence was in charge of Saturday's second Bledisloe Cup match which the All Blacks won 39-10 at Eden Park squaring the series against the Wallabies at one a piece.

New Zealand supporters would have been pleased to see Lawrence clamp down on the Wallabies at scrum-time, an area in which they have been accused by both the All Blacks and Springboks for using less-than-legitimate tactics.

"I thought Mark Lawrence refereed the match well," Head Coach Graham Henry told the New Zealand press.

"We have been under a bit of pressure in that department in recent times so it was good to get a bit of the bounce of the ball. I thought the referee refereed very well. He has gained a lot of confidence over the last couple of years. I thought he was very good, that helps."

"He certainly has a good handle for it, he does a lot of work on it I know," added forwards coach Steve Hansen.

The battle up-front saw the All Blacks gain the upper hand, which was used as a building lock for New Zealand loose forwards to take control of the breakdown area in a reversal of the previous week's 34-19 loss to the Wallabies.

Hansen thought is was one All Blacks pack's best performances during his time as a national coach.

"I look at the test match in Wellington, against the Springboks it was pretty good," he said.

"France in 2004 was pretty good. That will be in one of the top three or four performances.

"Probably the best thing was because we were under a lot of pressure. It was a group of young people involved, a lot of new faces, so for those guys to experience that and come through it on the other side is really good for them."

ABs respond with brains and fury to whip Aussie

By DUNCAN JOHNSTONE - RugbyHeaven | Saturday, 02 August 2008

Graham Henry and his All Blacks put the boot into their critics and the Wallabies as they produced their promised kicking improvements and backed it up with power and precision to tie up the Bledisloe Cup with a hugely satisfying win at Auckland on Saturday night.

The angry All Blacks had a bit more about them from the outset when they produced their personal Kapa O Pango haka for the first time in 12 months and went on to blitz the Wallabies 39-10.

Under siege after consecutive losses and trying to protect a 19-match unbeaten record at Eden Park , the All Blacks ripped into this demanding test and 18-3 ahead after the first quarter, they had one hand back on the Bledisloe and showed they weren't about to surrender their Tri-Nations title just yet either.

They start tearing down a significant piece of New Zealand rugby history at the Eden Park on Sunday as the wrecking balls start the demolition for the World Cup revamp.

There were suggestions that a third loss in a row would start eroding the foundations of Henry's reign too. But the All Blacks put and end to that in stylish fashion in front of a capacity crowd.

It seemed that all that was missing was a bonus point to help their championship cause and Ma'a Nonu delivered that on the whistle. But the 29-point scoreboard differential told the real story.

The highly publicised revamp of tactics was delivered to good effect and ended the five-match unbeaten run of the Wallabies under Robbie Deans.

Dan Carter's bombs may have been a bit wayward at times but his touch finders and kicks to space - backed up by chasers this week - kept the Wallabies marching backwards. Mils Muliaina and even Sivivatu Sitiveni chimed in with good contributions in this department too as the All Blacks confidently went for the touch lines and then put heat on the Wallabies' lineout.

And returning skipper Richie McCaw proved as good as his word too. He had demanded aggression to match the precision and led on that front with a typically inspirational performance after six weeks away with his ankle injury.

The All Blacks produced an in-your-face defence that suddenly had the Wallabies forced into the sort of errors that New Zealand had suffered to their embarrassment in Sydney last week.

The yellow jerseys were the ones spilling the 50-50 balls and the All Blacks used that to add to their front-foot momentum.

McCaw wasn't alone in his sterling work around the breakdowns. The back row, playing a more traditional format and with Rodney So'oialo and Jerome Kaino in their preferred positions, proved far more effective.

Prop Tony Woodcock capped off a good night for the tight five with two tries as the All Blacks also produced some pleasing lineout innovations.

Jimmy Cowan's first start of the year produced some crisp delivery and with a fraction more time it was noticeable that Nonu's attack started to bite in the Tri-Nations for the first time.

The All Blacks were guilty of a sloppy start though as they dropped the kick-off and the Wallabies were able to dominate a long period of possession that eventually led to So'oialo being frustrated and penalised for aggressive play at a ruck. Matt Giteau goaled for the first points.

But just as quickly Australia were penalised at the next breakdown and Carter evened the ledger.

New Zealand maintained that pressure through that improved kicking game and Carter goaled again when Australia were caught offside.

Carter's boot continued to keep the All Blacks in the right areas but it was the turn of Woodcock to shine.

He produced a deft side-step on a cameo run out wide and then burrowed over for the first try in the 21^st minute. Carter's conversion had New Zealand out to a handy 13-3 lead.

A couple of minutes later Woodcock was at it again after the All Blacks had forced a 5m lineout. Ali Williams made a clean take and passed down to charging Woodcock to rip through the guts of the lineout and slither over.

The Wallabies had to strike back if they were to stay in the match and they did, working a sharp overlap off a lineout win themselves with Stirling Mortlock getting on the outside of Conrad Smith to send fullback Adam Ashley Cooper away.

A Carter penalty just before halftime settled things for the home side who went into the break at 21-10.

The All Blacks started the second spell strongly, upsetting a Wallabies' lineout and as the ball spilled loose inside the Australian 22 they scrambled it left with Nonu featuring twice for the touchdown.

Carter kept the scoreboard ticking with another penalty but the All Blacks were seeking a bonus point try to cap an impressive response to their doubters.

They emptied their bench to add to that urgency and it eventually came.

But that was just the icing on the cake on a night when it was win at all costs.

Privately and publicly the All Blacks were hugely disappointed with last week's effort across the Tasman where they felt they lost that match as much as the Wallabies won it.

They could be hugely proud of their response with this effort, clearly their most precise performance of what has been a difficult season.

All Blacks 39: Tony Woodcock 2, Ma'a Nonu 2 tries, Dan Carter 5 pens, Carter 2 con

Wallabies 10: Adam Ashley-Cooper tries, Matt Giteau 1 pen, Giteau 1 con

HT: 21-10

What did you make of this game? Have your say below.

Deans' old mate McCaw makes the difference

Sunday, 03 August 2008 - NZPA

The return of one legend ensured an unhappy homecoming for another at Eden Park -- Robbie Deans identified All Blacks captain Richie McCaw as a prime contributor to the end of his unbeaten record as Wallabies coach.

There was no denying McCaw's tremendous influence over the All Blacks' redeeming 39-10 Tri-Nations and Bledisloe Cup victory -- both in word and deed.

"Richie was obviously an inspiration to the people around him. He was at the front end of everything, not just physically but verbally and they responded to that," Deans admitted of his former ally at the Crusaders.

Other than topping the tackle count, ruling the breakdown and supplying the crunching hit on Australian halfback Luke Burgess that facilitated Ma'a Nonu's 43rd minute try, McCaw also kept South African referee Mark Lawrence on side throughout the match.

While McCaw was ingratiating himself to the official, openside rival George Smith found himself on the backfoot all night as Lawrence frequently found fault with him at the tackle.

Deans, who had hoped to end the Wallabies' 22-year losing streak at Eden Park, felt for Smith.

"That's what happens when the tide flows the other way," he said.

"You're more exposed when you're going backwards. It's a natural result of the way the momentum was going."

Smith's sidekick Phil Waugh's contribution was also minimised by McCaw's accidental elbow to the head in the 11th minute -- not that Deans was searching for any excuses.

"It didn't help, but it wasn't a point of difference."

Instead Deans lamented a drop off in the Wallabies' precision kicking game and a malfunctioning lineout -- a facet of play usually considered a strength.

Australia lost turned over possession on their feed eight times while the All Blacks secured nine and lost just one.

"We weren't that accurate," Deans admitted.

"It happens when the tide turns and there's pressure built. They were prepared to take a bit of a risk (by contesting the throw). It snowballed on us, without a doubt."

Deans accurately described the contest as a mirror image of the Wallabies' 34-19 triumph in Sydney last weekend but with a different team in control.

"We didn't build any pressure with the ball we had, we didn't kick as good as we did last week. It was a good performance by the All Blacks, they were accurate."

Though disappointed he could not co-ordinate an historic night for the Wallabies, Deans was confident Australia were still in the hunt for two cups.

Their Tri-Nations campaign resumes on August 24 in Durban, a week after the All Blacks play the world champions in Cape Town.

The Bledisloe Cup is on hold until September 13 in Brisbane, where the Wallabies must win to keep that series alive when the teams meet in Hong Kong on November 1.

"There's a long way to go in this competition and the great thing is we're in a Tri-Nations that's wide open," he said.

"You've just had a vivid example of how one week is no indicator of the next."

Wallabies first five-eighth Matt Giteau described the setback as a "reality check" for a previously buoyant squad.

"It might be good for the guys and bring us a bit back down to earth," he said.

The Wallabies returned home early today with one serious injury concern to try-scorer Adam Ashley-Cooper who broke a bone in his hand.

Cold eyes and fierce hearts as ABs come from dead

By PHIL GIFFORD - Sunday Star Times | Sunday, 03 August 2008

In Auckland it was a good day for a funeral. Grey, bleak and chilly. During the week the All Blacks had a funereal look, too, although that's not necessarily a bad thing. During the week former All Blacks commended the value of grumpiness in a build-up.

Eden Park had the potential to be the perfect place for the wake, with the south stand facing the wrecking ball, and the crowd knowing the eulogy for the coaching career of Graham Henry was just one, maybe two, defeats away.

After all, it wasn't just the media vultures who thought the All Blacks were out-coached in Sydney. So, it emerged during the week, did Wayne Smith.

Well, cancel the flowers and hold the hearse.

Compared with the wild-eyed tactics used in Sydney, the All Blacks were, as promised, astute tactically, sensible with their attacking options and clinical in execution.

Richie McCaw had so many hopes heaped on him, you feared the pressure could be too much, even for someone as talented as he is.

He showed his class by not only attacking the breakdowns with his usual ferocity and accuracy but maintaining his composure when the All Blacks were awarded a free kick after 20 minutes.

In Sydney there would probably have been a hot-headed tap and run. Last night McCaw called a scrum, the screws were turned on Australia and Tony Woodcock was able to surge to his first try.

There was cold-eyed efficiency, too, in Woodcock's second try. Ali Williams looked manic during the haka, but as he settled into his game was a tireless presence around the field, and the composure to run perfectly a lineout drill that saw him flick the ball down to a rampaging Woodcock, who powered through a huge gap.

It was a reminder that while there are several rookies in this All Blacks team, there are veterans, too. Williams, in his 53rd test, was giving the ball to a man in Woodcock who was playing his 42nd.

It was the veterans who needed to stand up last night, and to a man they did.

If Dan Carter's skill set was any greater it'd belong in the realms of science fiction, while Mils Muliaina may be our most under-rated player. In what was often a cauldron he never missed a high ball, ran with purpose and, best of all, chose the moment when safety was the best option.

The experience of Woodcock and Greg Somerville also gave the All Blacks an edge in the scrums where they spread uncertainty in the opposing pack.

Best of all for the All Blacks was that the loose forward trio were all playing in the positions they're best suited to, with the folly of left and right flankers discarded.

The change allowed Rodney So'oialo and Jerome Kaino to play in the same positions in which they played the Super 14.

Of the newcomers the most successful was halfback Jimmy Cowan, who revelled in the close quarter scrapping, putting pressure not just on his opposite Luke Burgess, but on the Wallabies ruck and maul defence.

Robbie Deans had warned that Eden Park could be ugly for the Wallabies, with a stung and angry All Blacks side defending their honour.

Whether his players fully absorbed the message was unclear but you can bet that an any alarms rung by him in the future will get nothing but complete attention.

All Blacks' pack the best in a long time

By LAURIE MAINS - Sunday News | Sunday, 03 August 2008

To steal a phrase from my old All Blacks captain Sean Fitzpatrick, "full credit" to the All Blacks. The Eden Park win over the Wallabies was based around New Zealand's tight five.

Tony Woodcock, Andrew Hore, Greg Somerville, Brad Thorn and Ali Williams were outstanding at Eden Park.

They provided a superb platform for Jimmy Cowan and Dan Carter to control the game.

In contrast the Wallabies' front five didn't front and Luke Burgess and Matt Giteau had no chance of controlling the game the way they did seven days earlier in Sydney.

Indeed, the whole All Blacks pack Jerome Kaino, Richie McCaw and Rodney So'oailo included came to play, as I suspected they would. But it was more than that.

They dominated the Australian tight five in particular and unlike last week the All Blacks No 9 and No 10 kicked to grass which put a lot of pressure on the Wallabies.

The big difference in the All Blacks game was the intensity of the forward play.

They clearly had a plan of putting more players at the breakdown and the result was their own ball was good and clean for the backs to use well. And in reverse they put the Wallaby ball under an awful lot of pressure.

It was a very good All Blacks performance as good a performance from the pack that we have seen for a long time.

It was a smart way to play the tighter it was the more they kept the Wallabies out of the game.

The return of Richie McCaw made a huge difference.

He surprised me with how well he lasted the 80 minutes after a month out. He completely outplayed Phil Waugh and George Smith. I wasn't surprised by the win. The pundits who predicted an Australian win just do not understand the pysche of the All Blacks.

Historically, All Blacks teams normally respond when the pressure is on. The losses that have plagued recent New Zealand teams have come when they have been favoured to win.

That was the case in Sydney in 2003, Melbourne and Cardiff last year and in Dunedin and Sydney this season.

But before the test last night many were picking an Australian win. Indeed on reflection there was no way the All Blacks would lose the game. Their intensity levels and their passion to restore some mana to the jersey was always going to come through.

Certainly Australia didn't have the edge they had last week and they didn't have enough ball to put any real pressure on the All Blacks.

They just didn't front. It was their third test in succession following their wins against the Springboks in Perth and All Blacks in Sydney.

It was a punishing schedule for them but knowing Robbie Deans, he certainly will not use that as an excuse.

Ma'avellous last-gasp effort indeed

By JIM KAYES - The Dominion Post | Monday, 04 August 2008

The ledger has been emphatically squared. Bring on Brisbane. The only pity after Saturday night's 39-10 dismantling of the Wallabies, before Eden Park suffers a similar fate, is that the third round in this captivating tussle is six weeks away.

The All Blacks have a trip to South Africa first, but that Tri-Nations match is almost a sideshow to the fascinating contest for the Bledisloe Cup.

The All Blacks had seemed down and out after Sydney but, like all great heavyweights, picked themselves off the canvas and fought back.

And boy did they fight back.

The Wallabies had fancied their chances of breaking a 22-year losing streak at Eden Park and securing their first away win in the Tri-Nations since 2001.

Instead, they were thumped by an All Blacks side that did everything they had failed to do a week earlier.

They played intelligently, kicked into position, were patient and waited for the pressure to take its toll, and took their chances when they were on offer.

"It was a big day for New Zealand rugby, wasn't it?" relieved All Blacks coach Graham Henry admitted. "There were a lot of people under a lot of pressure and they are pretty relieved."

He would count himself among those as a third consecutive defeat would have had many baying for his head. Now, the All Blacks are firmly back in the hunt to retain the Bledisloe Cup with only one more win needed from the tests in Brisbane and Hong Kong, in November.

"We've been under a lot of pressure and we had to respond and the boys did so," Henry said.

While he had his hands full during the week redrafting the gameplan after the debacle in Sydney, Henry said motivating the players had been simple.

"Last Saturday created the edge. Just sitting in the dressing shed after the game was like a morgue. They just needed to think back on that.

"It was just a matter of getting the tactics right to play the game well, and the guys did that."

Wallaby coach Robbie Deans, hailed last week as Australian rugby's saviour, joined Eddie Jones and John Connolly as Wallaby coaches who failed to win away.

The Wallabies have lost 15 Tri-Nations tests outside Australia and Deans admitted Saturday night's performance was "not one we will look back on with pride".

"The game was a mirror of last week. They didn't allow us to build pressure, and as a consequence we were unable to get into the game. It was one of those days when you try to create pressure and intensity and nothing works."

Henry admitted the 29-point win - the biggest against Australia since the All Blacks won by the same margin, 50-21 in 2003 - and the emphatic manner of the victory had caught him by surprise. He praised skipper Richie McCaw for bringing the best out of his players.

Henry was an emotional sight in the coaches' box during the test and conceded later that it had been a draining week.

"I've been under a bit of pressure. You lose two in a row and it makes a huge difference to your life.

"The way the guys played and the way they approached the game was very special.

"I was probably showing a bit of emotion and a bit of relief as well."

It was Henry's 94th test and 55th with the All Blacks. He ranked it among one of the more special wins in his career.

"It was a special day. We've had a bit of a roll for the last four years, but we are developing a new team and New Zealand rugby is under a bit of pressure created by the World Cup loss.

"They tell me there's reduced interest in the game, and I think everybody involved in New Zealand rugby wanted a big performance and it happened."

Long dark cloud breaks for rabid Kiwis

Ruck & Maul by GREG GROWDEN - SMH | Monday, 04 August 2008

What hope did the Wallabies have? Apart from confronting a militant All Blacks unit, revved up by their rendition of the throat-slitting Kapo O Pango haka before kick-off, they were also facing four million disturbed Kiwis.

If anyone was in any doubt that New Zealand had lost the plot about its national game, you only had to peruse the front page of the Saturday edition of its biggest newspaper.

It was decidedly odd.

A third of the front page of The New Zealand Herald was taken up with this plea: "People Power: How to save the Bledisloe."

And there was even an editorial that demanded that after two straight losses, the All Blacks remember the three Ps - possession, position and pace. The paper asked New Zealanders for "their final words of inspiration for the All Blacks before their crucial Bledisloe Cup Test", and had also asked readers what they would say to the All Blacks before the match if they were the coach.

Some of the responses were real doosies. Ben and Pearl, no relation to Sam and Dave, told it straight: "Talk to each other. Inspire each other. Be positive, we can win. We will win."

Twelve-year-old Colin Pang had obviously been on the red cordial at the flicks: "I just wanna say that if you win, that's great, but if you lose, that's fine. A sentence that I learnt in the Kung Fu Panda movie is that yesterday is a history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is a gift … so try your best to win for NZ!"

Sam, of no fixed address, growled: "You are more than just a rugby team, and you are more than just players when you don the jersey. Your country is suffering in the grip of a fierce winter of despair. They look to you for hope and inspiration, because you are an All Black."

Liz French of Tauranga got all gooey. "Do not worry. It is just a game and you are merely players. Rugby is not a life or death situation. Win or lose, the world will still go round, the sun will still shine, your mothers, wives and girlfriends will still love you and you can bask in the knowledge that some of us do not even care."

That message was definitely not read out to the All Blacks at 7.22pm, Auckland time, on Saturday. Poor Liz had got it so wrong. She was obviously masquerading as a high-brow New Zealand intellectual, because in this part of the world, rugby is life, it is death, and when the All Blacks lose they get the cold shoulder at home. The world does stop. Yesterday, the rest of New Zealand were on a hunting expedition for Liz to set her straight.

Five days in Auckland reminded Monday Maul how depressed this nation becomes if their rugby team loses its bearings. The endless wet and driving wind didn't help, but it felt as if the country was in a deep depression, a condition that had only been amplified by last year's World Cup Quarter-Final Departure Blues.

So when the Wallabies merrily skipped into the city of sails on Thursday night, they didn't really know how immense their task was. Maybe the hour-and-a-half crawl from the airport to their city hotel gave them an inkling, especially when their team bus was buffeted by high winds. Maybe it was only when they arrived at the ground, and discovered the hordes clad in black looming to strangle them.

Then again, maybe it only really hit them when the All Blacks, through dominating the set pieces, territory, possession, the breakdown and kicking, had them in la-la land well before full-time.

And yesterday, at last, the sun re-emerged over Auckland Harbour.