BATTLE FOR THE BLEDISLOE

THE UNPRECEDENTED CONDITIONS OF 2020 SAW THE INTERNATIONAL CALENDAR HASTILY REDRAWN AND IN A UNIQUE TWIST FOR THE PROFESSIONAL AGE, THE ALL BLACKS PLAYED FOUR CONSECUTIVE TESTS AGAINST AUSTRALIA.

STALEMATE IN THE CAPITAL

BLEDISLOE I New Zealand - 6 Australia - 6 Sky Stadium, Wellington

It was an unusual scenario in so many different ways. Both teams were playing their first test of the year and it was October. Neither had played a game since the 2019 World Cup and both teams were beginning new eras under new coaching teams.

So, obviously, that meant both were desperate to start the series well. That pressure sat well with the Wallabies but appeared to overwhelm the All Blacks who were disjointed, inaccurate and lacking in real urgency and dynamism.

For all the promises made about improving their physicality, the All Blacks didn't show much in that regard. Their set-piece was strong but their defence was a touch passive and they didn't have enough impact with their ball carrying and collision work.

The Wallabies on the other hand brought cohesion and energy. They were full of running, held up well in the contact zones and had a chance to win the match in the last minute when Reece Hodge tried to land a 55 metre penalty in the gusting wind. It hit the post and while it sparked a furious extra nine minutes of action in which both teams could have won, it ended up feeling like a giant let off for the All Blacks and a huge missed opportunity for the Wallabies.

As Foster said after: “They’ve got a new coach and the last three new coaches they had beat us in their first game. If you go back and look at [Robbie] Deans and [Michael] Cheika and [Ewen] McKenzie, they won their first games against us so clearly it’s a team that responds to a bit of change.”

What Foster really said was that his team needed to find answers quickly to the various problems that were exposed in Wellington.

The Five Decisions That Turned the Series