News

Australia down but not out

August 03 2008

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

In his first return to his native country, the welcome mat was not rolled out for Deans as he was forced to watch his newly-adopted Australian outfit put to the sword by the All Blacks, who fired back at the critics after the comprehensive loss in Sydney seven days earlier.

The Wallabies Tri-Nations campaign resumes on August 23 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," said Deans.

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

As Deans rationalised the end of his unbeaten record as Wallabies coach, a prime contributor was easily identified - Richie McCaw - a former ally to the ex-Crusaders' mentor.

There was no denying the captain'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," Deans admitted.

"He was at the front end of everything, not just physically but verbally and they responded to that."

Other than topping the tackle count, ruling the breakdown and supplying the crunching hit on Australian scrum-half 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 line-out - a facet of play usually considered a strength.

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

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

"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." he said.

"It was a good performance by the All Blacks, they were accurate."