The Wallabies started like they finished Bledisloe I, but failed to show the power of the All Blacks in the second half, leaving coach Joe Schmidt with plenty to ponder as he turned his attention to the Northern Hemisphere battle ahead.
The Wallabies changed their approach, playing more rugby and taking fewer box kicks, before achieving the same result in New Zealand.
The 33-13 defeat was Schmidt’s fifth defeat in six Rugby Championship matches. His 4-5 record has been somewhat patched up by July tests against Georgia and a weak Wales side and fans may be feeling a bit anxious about the upcoming four Northern Hemisphere games in November.
Initially, Schmidt’s change-up appeared to surprise the hosts and his side were ahead even before Fraser McWright’s only try after six minutes.
Schmidt’s team is growing offensively, but the broader game has led to some errors after being controlled in recent weeks. Their defense is better than it was a week ago. How could it not be so?
Schmidt said he is still in development mode with next year’s Lions tour being his top priority. It’s also the end of the line for him, at least according to his current contract.
“For us, going north is still about architectural depth, because the big projects this year are about architectural depth,” he said later.
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“We had 16 debutants and a new leader and Harry did very, very well. Those four Test matches make up the Lions for next year, so we take a good look at their personnel.
“It’s similar to when we play here against the All Blacks. I know it’s going to be a really tough tour, but I feel like if I can continue to build on that tour, I’ve put myself in a position to potentially be competitive next time. July.”
There was no real disaster for the Australian team on Saturday, and in some ways that’s a big part of the problem.
Noah Lolesio was decent in 10th place. great. They may not be able to win many Tests against top five countries, but again criticizing him for a lack of depth in the playmaking role in Australia seems pointless. There doesn’t seem to be a clear replacement. Lolesio kicked the tee shot well and made a big tackle that took down Will Jordan in the second half.
(Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
“Noah needs to run this team and get his hands on the ball a little more and be the first receiver,” Tim Horan said, almost sighing.
You need to drink less beer, pay less attention to personal insults in the comments section, and lose 15kg of belly fat. But that won’t happen.
Len Ikitau had one of his quietest games of the Championship and Hunter Paisami made a few poor mistakes in the first half and pushed away passes that did not need to be pushed after a creative backline burst opened up the All Blacks’ defence. But Schmidt was happy with both centers.
“I felt like Hunter Paisami did a good job today. Lenny Ikitau did a great job,” the coach said.
Jake Gordon and Tom Wright have had similar moments of waste. Why Gordon didn’t simply apply downward pressure with two minutes to claim the opening try, and instead tried to scoop it up, we’ll probably never know.
Wright was in the minority as usual, but was keen to retrieve a left-to-right pass that bounced well in front of Andrew Kellaway and teetered over the touchline.
After a decent start there were still a few shining lights despite the dismal confirmation of the RC wooden spoon, but there were too many of them.
Fraser McReight continued to draw praise, especially in a first half in which all the Wallabies were better than the second.
“He has great carry ability, works hard, covers his teammates, has great pressure on breaks and is an offensive threat. He’s getting better and better,” said Morgan Turinui of McReight on Stan Sport.
“He is a perfect example of what happens when Joe Schmidt spends time with the team and the players. If you’re a Wallaby now, Joe Schmidt is going to have some interesting things to do with his team.”
Sonny Bill Williams said McReight “can do it all. He has really come of age in the last few Tests. Almost the best player on the field. “I thought it would be a long time before we saw the person who played Michael Hooper, but I think we found him.”
McReight probably doesn’t like watching the tape again when he realizes Will Jordan easily stepped on him for a first-half try. The All Blacks star has a habit of making his defense look lost.
But Australia’s best player was Waratahs winger Dylan Pietsch, making his first start in the fourth Test.
He ran powerfully, made brutal tackles and was outstanding in the air. Beauden Barrett’s leap from off the field to preserve a penalty was a far more athletic and graceful catch than anything the Sydney Swans have managed before. Saturday.
(Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)
“He did really well,” Schmidt said. “He had cramps in both calves and still played. He felt really healthy.”
Pietsch’s influence surprised All Blacks great Andrew Mehrtens.
“I thought he was a little bit better than when he first debuted in Super Rugby,” Mehrtens said.
“His physical involvement has been fantastic and he is one of those guys who can lift up his teammates just by putting his head down and thinking. Okay, there’s nothing else here. I will just be physical against the All Blacks. And they can get in behind it.”
Pietsch said: “My game is based on effort and I tried to bring that today. Joe really simplified it for me. He said, ‘Dude, tackle hard and try to get in as many contests as you can.’ And that’s what I tried.
Andrew Kellaway, on the wing, had his best game for TRC, his game unraveling due to Schmidt’s expansive strategy.
And after earning praise from fans for her 35-minute effort against Argentina a few weeks ago, Taniela Tupou deserves a flower for a generous effort that showed real promise of the growing strength and cohesion of the Wallabies pack. .
Tupou went down on his knee in the opening moments and for a moment it looked like he might have suffered a much more serious Achilles tear on the scale of the one he suffered in 2022. But the big man got up and made short work of the game. After wrapping a lot of bandages on my knees, I remove them and live my life as a soldier without my knees.
His shoulder was injured again in a tangle with Sam Kane early in the second half.
When he left and was replaced by Allan Alaalatoa, there was a real-life Black Knight with Monty Python’s Holy Grail vibes from Tongan Thor.
