All Blacks loss against the Boks at Twickenham
The All Blacks Rugby got agonisingly close to South Africa in the World Cup final, but where does that performance rate? Patrick McKendry assesses the team's year, from worst Tests to best.
In retrospect, this record defeat for the All Blacks foreshadowed what for them was an epic disappointment of a World Cup final against the same opposition. Tom Foley was the television match official for both matches and made his presence felt to the fullest on both occasions.
The All Blacks failed to get on the same wavelength as English referee Matt Carley and coughed up five penalties in the opening 10 minutes. Likewise, in the final the All Blacks appeared to struggle to get through to Wayne Barnes. At Twickenham, Scott Barrett was red carded for two yellows which would rule him out of the World Cup opener against France and prop Tyrel Lomax went off early due to a badly cut thigh.
The Boks scored five tries to the All Blacks’ one. Prop Ethan de Groot was almost whistled off the park by Carley. It was a wretched result and performance for the All Blacks, the only highlight being 22-year-old halfback Cam Roigard’s cameo off the bench.
The All Blacks’ victory in Melbourne, which locked up the Bledisloe Cup for another year, gave Ian Foster the confidence to roll the dice on his selections for Dunedin. He made 13 changes, with Damian McKenzie starting at No.10, Shaun Stevenson on debut on the right wing and Samipeni Finau on debut at lock.
Halfback Finlay Christie was another change. The All Blacks were also Barrett-less. It didn’t go well, the Wallabies streaking out to a 17-3 halftime lead and the home side lacking control in nearly every aspect. The emergence from the bench of prop Ofa Tu’ungafasi, halfback Aaron Smith, and first-five Richie Mo’unga coincided with the All Blacks’ comeback.
A near perfect World Cup opener for Les Bleus, and a poor one for the All Blacks, who were ill-disciplined in giving up 12 penalties to the hosts’ four, with Will Jordan yellow carded in the second half. The All Blacks began each half with tries for wing Mark Telea but seemed to run out of attacking ideas for the remainder.
The red card for Ethan de Groot soured this performance by the All Blacks which was predictably convincing against a second-tier opponent. De Groot’s dismissal came late in the match for a high tackle, the All Blacks against struggling with their discipline.
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