Fallible, fortunate All Blacks show their character, grit with Bledisloe escape act

Marc Hinton is senior rugby writer for Stuff and has covered the All Blacks since 1996.

OPINION: There is a lot to unpack from one of the most dramatic Bledisloe Cup tests in history, but the chief takeaway has to be that the All Blacks, with a little help from the referee, found a way to win a match that looked for all money to have slipped from their grasp.

Well, that and the, yes, wonderful Wallabies were exceedingly unlucky not to have pulled off one of the great comeback victories in their history, denied at the finish by a stickler referee who pulled out one of the most seldom used laws in a very complicated book.

But the All Blacks first.

At this stage of a season like they’ve had – now standing at four victories and four defeats on the ledger – you take the wins where you can get ‘em. And this 39-37 thriller was indeed one to savour, never mind the outrageous fortune involved. For the first time this season they’ve gone back to back, they have tucked the Bledisloe away for a remarkable 20th straight year and they also have one hand on the Rugby Championship trophy. Not bad for an outfit that couldn’t take a trick not so long ago.

Yes, it took a serious twist of fate to go their way at the finish, when the Wallabies looked to have done enough after forcing a relieving breakdown penalty as the All Blacks probed for the winning score, 34-37 in arrears. But French referee Matthieu Raynal was not done having his say in a surging, captivating contest in which he dished out four yellow cards, ruled the breakdown with a fine-tooth comb and ultimately made the call that decided this contest.

After M. Reynard had pinged the All Blacks as they went for the drive, crabbed sideways and then couldn’t clear the ball legally, the Aussies looked home and hosed with just a minute left.

But they dallied. And dallied. Bernard Foley held the ball, but wouldn’t kick for touch. And Reynard had had enough, blowing a scrum for the All Blacks for an unreasonable delay of the game. Of course, the New Zealanders punished their hosts with time up as they conjured a try for Jordie Barrett wide on the right, courtesy of Will Jordan’s peach of a slipped pass.

Game over. Bledisloe secured. Rugby Championship one win away, back at Fortress Eden Park.

The clutch finish was quality. Their final quarter not so much. This would appear to still be a fundamentally flawed All Blacks side. How else could you explain them all but coughing up a 31-13 lead with 24 minutes remaining.

They missed a lot of important tackles over the final quarter (18 for the match) as the Wallabies came surging back with two tries to fullback Andrew Kellaway and another to Pete Samu that gave them the chance to steal a famous Bledisloe upset.

In the context it was better from the All Blacks. Not better than last outing, when they put a half-century past the Pumas, but by backing up they brushed a mighty primate off their backs.

But best still looks some way in the distance for a side that made awful hard work of putting away an injury-ravaged, heavily rejigged Wallabies outfit. They needed every bit of assistance they got – and they received plenty in a match where Reynal sent three Wallabies to the bin, and ultimately denied the home side what few would have quibbled was an heroic, thoroughly deserved victory.

This was not the All Blacks at their fluent best from Hamilton. They found their flow only in patches, though when they did they looked pretty impressive. Caleb Clarke had a big match out wide (146 metres on the carry), Richie Mo’unga did some impressive stuff, Jordie Barrett made the big plays and Will Jordan mixed the brilliant with the ordinary. Up front player of the match Samisoni Taukei’aho was simply superb (with two well-taken tries, another big stride taken in his young career), Scott Barrett put in a telling defensive shift at No 6 and the big rigs, Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick, provided plenty of steel in the engine room.

But their defence was exposed on numerous occasions, some of the decision-making on the break was questionable, at best, and they were guilty of badly taking the foot off the throat in the second spell. There will be plenty to chew over at review time.

Then you tell yourself, well, they found a way to salvage the result, when it looked unlikely, and they kept their cool after losing both second fives (David Havili to a head knock, and Quinn Tupaea to a season-ending knee injury) and skipper Sam Cane also to a blow to the noggin.

Against Ireland, and even in their defeats to South Africa and Argentina, teams put the squeeze on them, and they were found wanting. The Wallabies applied their own blowtorch in the form of an exhilarating 24-3 final-quarter burst, but this time Foster’s Improvers had an answer.

The way it played out will have rugbyheads the world over in heated discussion for some time.