Former Wallabies captain Rocky Elsom wryly observed before a 2011 Test at Eden Park that he had “never met a ghost around here”, but there has certainly been a graveyard for the past 36 years and now has a new tombstone.
While a last-minute try from Jordan Petaia spared the Wallabies the ignominy of a record defeat at the Auckland ground, it was little consolation for another ill-disciplined performance that reflected a team sorely lacking in composure and leadership .
This latest chapter was Australia’s 22nd consecutive defeat at the venue since Alan Jones’ Bledisloe winners in 1986, with the 40-14 scoreline indicative of a gap that is not closing, given that the margin New Zealand’s average win before this game was 18 points. The dispiriting nature of the performance and the scoreline suggest that Australia are drifting away.
To add salt to the Wallabies’ wounds, damning statistical evidence confirms that with six dismissals in less than 12 months, the current edition of the All Blacks is the worst in the professional era, surpassing even the class of 1998 which lost five in a row.
If New Zealand’s motivation in the first Test at Bledisloe was to avoid becoming the side to lose the trophy after two decades of trans-Tasman supremacy, this mission was to ensure they did not suffer a first defeat in Eden Park in 27 years, an unbeaten streak. consisting of 45 wins and two draws.
A thoroughly dominant first 30 minutes, with Will Jordan’s fourth try in as many games against Australia, along with a penalty try, two yellow cards and a host of other created but missed chances pretty much summed up the state of both teams. Still, the hosts raced to a 17-0 half-time lead to all but ensure their record at Eden Park was not under threat.
Tries from skipper Sam Whitelock and hooker Codie Taylor after the break took the score to 32-0, with seemingly the only remaining issue being how much they could win and how hard they could make it for South Africa to catch them by a margin of points for the rugby championship title.
That proved beyond the Springboks, who needed to beat Argentina by at least 39 points, only managing a 38-21 win in Durban. So New Zealand, for all their faltering form of late, claimed the trophy for the fifth time in six years.
That awareness meant they were happy as they raced to a 37-7 lead to kick a penalty with three minutes left. Petaia’s last try, and Folau Fainga’a 20 minutes earlier, were surely worth more to South Africa than the Wallabies.
Australia, meanwhile, are left contemplating a contest of missed opportunities, decisively defeated in each of the return games after having beaten their three rivals for the first time. Already ninth in the World Rugby rankings, down from sixth when Dave Rennie inherited the team, their success rate has fallen to an absurd 38%, largely due to a lack of discipline that sometimes defies belief. The Wallabies have conceded 22 yellow and red cards in the 29 Tests on their watch. The three yellow cards against New Zealand in Melbourne contributed significantly to that defeat.
Two back at Eden Park didn’t help, although, such was the superiority of the All Blacks, it’s doubtful the Wallabies could have stayed with them even if they had been 15 for 15 over the full 80 minutes.
For the All Blacks, while it doesn’t remove the stains from historic defeats to Ireland and Argentina, the win at least allows Ian Foster’s side to increase their home record for the year to 50%. The final judgment of the season now rests on their November duties, and above all the trip to Twickenham, with a win over Eddie Jones’ England needed to improve on an unsatisfactory year.