Dane Coles scores a try. Bledisloe Cup. Australian Wallabies v New Zealand All Blacks. Photo / Andrew Cornaga.
All Blacks 29 Australia 28
The All Blacks travelled early to Brisbane to give themselves every chance of being ready for last night's test.
They wanted to deal with the three hour time difference and get acclimatized to the humid conditions in that city which have numbed their performances in the last few visits.
The plan looked to be working in the first 10 minutes as the All Blacks pounded through an array of attacks and it seemed just a matter of time before the Wallaby resistance would crumble.
However they were up for this Breathless in Brisbane rumble and when they got some possession they had no thoughts of kicking for territory, they attacked across the park.
That ambition gave them the opening try to Nick Phipps and the last of the half to Bernard Foley as both players nipped over from short range when the All Black defences fell away. It was not the only time the tourists lost their shape on defence with too many individuals dropping off tackles.
Pressure also got them at the breakdown where referee Craig Joubert warned Richie McCaw that the next team foul would have someone in the bin.
Sandwiched between two try concessions, the All Blacks worked their moves to squeeze Cory Jane in at the corner and Dane Coles across on the other flank.
They had the Wallabies measure at the scrum and were making them work extra hard at the lineout but the Wallabies, who had been under immense pressure all week after successive defeats and team unity ructions, were in an irrepressible attacking mindset across the park.
Those attacks were giving the All Black defenders some serious problems and they were lagging 12-15 at the break. Not long after the Wallabies extended that margin through some marvellous teamwork.
James Slipper, Tevita Kurinfrani and Israel Folau broke tackles and made the metres to create a huge overlap on the blindside for Adam Ashley-Cooper to score in his 100th test.
The halftime hillock for the All Blacks was morphing into a mountain.
Would they be able to lift the pace and trample the Wallabies in the last 30 minutes or were the Wallabies the equal of their trans-Tasman rivals in this frenetic test of endurance and skills under pressure?
The All Blacks blinked under the pressure when replacement lock Patrick Tuipulotu took out his opposite in the air at a restart and went to the bin. Steve Hansen rolled the dice and brought Sam Cane on to help the energy levels.
They stayed in the scrap, Aaron Smith danced to a try from a quick tap, Malakai Fekitoa muscled across in the last minute with Colin Slade's conversion to decide the test. It was straight and true: a great escape once again.
Gregor Paul is the Herald on Sunday's rugby writer
11:55 PM Saturday Oct 18, 2014
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Cory Jane scores a try. Photo: Andrew Cornaga.
All Blacks 29 Wallabies 28
These All Blacks simply don't know when they are beaten. This was Dublin all over again. Maybe it was even braver because the opposition were better and had given them nothing all night.
They had to pull the rabbit out of the hat when it looked like they surely couldn't. And then, fourth-choice first-five, Colin Slade had to nail a tough conversation. What a kick.
What a game and the All Blacks can wake up this morning and be proud of their courage and commitment. They can look at themselves in the mirror and smile because they know they have once again dodged a bullet.
They will know they inflicted the cruellest blow on a Wallaby team that was probably the better side over the piece. They will know they didn't play anywhere near well enough.
Their skill execution was again poor. They didn't dominate up front and were cleaned up at the tackled ball... and yet they won.
The uplift in skill execution they were after never materialised and, if they are honest, they will know they played with a level of predictability that failed to cause the Wallabies defence enough problems.
The All Blacks talk endlessly, and rightly, about trusting and encouraging their skills. The ambition is beyond fault but there is a balance to strike.
When they carved up the Wallabies at Eden Park, they didn't do it from running deep inside their own territory.
There was more patience and structure to their work. They took the time to blunt the Wallabies first - let them know they didn't have it physically, before then showing them they didn't have it aerobically either.
The modern parlance is to say the All Blacks earned the right to play their wide-wide game and somehow that notion of paying dues has gotten a little lost in the last two tests.
It was the same at Ellis Park, where the All Blacks' preferred exit strategy from kick receipts was to recycle off a forward hitting up and then shifting wide.
That composure and control has gone missing from their game. They have sacrificed accuracy for speed and paid the price. Their execution was largely poor in most facets.
Their biggest worry is the breakdown, where they were again dominated. They couldn't get that quick ball, couldn't wipe out the Wallabies and clean that space for Aaron Smith to whip the ball away.
Without that fast ball, they are not the same team and needed to adapt quicker than they did to play more to their strengths and less to the Wallabies'. It was only in the final 10 minutes that they worked a lineout drive - a tactic that was so effective for them the last time they met the Wallabies.
Still, they got there in the end and they got there against an Australian team that bore no resemblance to the shambles they appeared to be during the week.
It didn't take long to get the answer as to whether the week from hell had split or galvanised the Wallabies. Being under siege suited them rather well, as it happened, and stiffened their resolve to play with what once upon a time, in a more innocent age, would have been known as gay abandon.
The frenetic pace of the game was as much to do with their adventure as it was the All Blacks' and, for the first 60 minutes at least, they looked the more comfortable.
They had obviously watched the way the Springboks had managed to attack the All Blacks at the tackled ball and did pretty well either halting momentum, winning possession or earning a penalty.
They must wonder why they can't deliver that sort of aggression more often, why can't they play with such fervour and purpose every time.
Australia 28 (N. Phipps, B. Foley, A. Ashley-Cooper tries; B. Foley 2 cons, pen, White pen) New Zealand 29 (C. Jane, D. Coles, A. Smith, M. Fekitoa tries; B. Barrett pen, 2 cons; C. Slade con). Halftime: 15-12.
The coaching staff don't doubt he'll come right physically and be the player he's always been. Photo / Getty Images
The All Blacks have 10 tests before they head to England to defend the World Cup. Gregor Paul of the Herald on Sunday looks at what they need to achieve.
1 Get Carter
The options at first-five are building for the All Blacks. They have a world class operator in Aaron Cruden, an emerging force in Beauden Barrett and a handy enough emergency choice in Colin Slade. But the one they want most is a fully fit Daniel Carter and the clock is ticking on that front.
Carter is only a maybe to actually play on the tour and that's a concern - not for his individual form. The coaching staff don't doubt he'll come right physically and be the player he's always been.
But they want him to be back in the groove of running the All Black game plan. They need him to be familiar with the overall strategies and comfortable calling the shots.
If he can't play on the tour, he'll be down to five tests next year to familiarise himself and to a lesser extent, have his teammates get used to him.
2 Drive through
You don't need to be Nostradamus to see that on the softer grounds of England and with the pressure of knock-out rugby, the driving maul is going to be a big part of next year's World Cup.
The English, French and South Africans love a bit of mauling and would back themselves to score nine times out 10 from a short-range attacking lineout.
That's where the All Blacks need to get to. When they played Australia at Eden Park, they scored two identical tries from driving mauls. But that was against Australia. They need to become that effective against top quality packs.
3 Clash of the titans
On one level the All Blacks will relish having access to Sonny Bill Williams and Ma'a Nonu. But they are big personalities and it may not be easy to balance their game time and keep them both happy. Nonu has been an All Black regular since 2008 and given his soul to the team.
He was hurt in 2010 when he was dropped for the final game of the year. He'd done so much while Williams had barely been around for five minutes. How would Nonu feel if history repeats?Or, what if Williams can't force his way into the No 12 jersey and spends another World Cup on the periphery as he did in 2011? Can they play as a combination?
And how are expectations going to be managed? Both players need to fully understand and be happy with their role by the time the World Cup starts.
4 Hooked in
Third choice hooker Nathan Harris needs to be nudged along his development path. The All Blacks can't afford to go to England next year with Harris having played just eight minutes of test football. Not when Mealamu is turning 36 and his calf has such a recent chequered history. The games against USA, Scotland and Samoa are ideal to get Harris back on the track and used to throwing into a test lineout.
5 Can they kick it?
The All Black kicking game is in need of a major rejuvenation. From being such a strength in 2013, it has been relatively poor in 2014. Some of that may be fixed with the return of Carter but across the backline, a general improvement in execution and imagination are required.
6 Polish the rough diamond
The All Blacks are one team when Aaron Smith plays - and probably another when he doesn't. We can't be certain because Smith tends to play almost 80 minutes every test.
The next option is TJ Perenara and while he's a superb athlete, he's loose and erratic.
Perenara has 10 games to lose the rough edges and become the sort of player everyone would trust to play out the last 20 minutes of a knock out World Cup game.
7 The dominators
It doesn't always follow that a team coming into the tournament on the back of impressive form will win. The All Blacks proved that in 2011 when they opened the event on the back of consecutive losses. Still, it would be preferable if the All Blacks can win their next 10 and establish they are absolutely the most dominant side in world rugby.
Most of the serious contenders to have an inferiority complex when it comes to the All Blacks. The All Blacks will be keen to beat England in a few weeks at Twickenham and then South Africa in July next year. These two are the respective biggest threat.
8 Champagne Charlie
There's no question in comparison with Owen Franks, Charlie Faumuina is the more natural athlete and ball player. But he has to be fit. He has to be capable of getting the best out of himself.
The All Black game plan needs the props to be contributing beyond the set-piece. Franks has stagnated a little in that regard and wins his jersey mostly on account of his experience and scrummaging prowess. If Faumuina can improve his conditioning in November, throughout summer and Super Rugby, he could become the better option.
9 Big calls
The team has a core of senior players, many if not most of whom are not going to be All Blacks in 2016. On that list are most likely Mealamu, Richie McCaw, Carter, Nonu and Conrad Smith and maybe a couple of others. Whether they are planning to retire, shift overseas or even, unlikely, hang on in New Zealand for more - they need to sort their plans out declare their intentions long before the All Blacks play their first test next year against Samoa on July 8.
10 Keep something back
The big picture for the All Blacks won't change over the next 10 tests. Hansen's vision has been to create a triple threat game so as the All Blacks have the option of running, passing or kicking to exploit the space. Where they can add an element of surprise is in the detail. They should hold some specific set plays back for the World Cup. It was, after all, a rehearsed lineout move that created their only try in the 2011 World Cup final.
THE BIG 10
• October 18 v Australia (Brisbane)
• November 1 v USA (Chicago)
• November 8 v England (London)
• November 15 v Scotland (Edinburgh)
• November 22 v Wales (Cardiff)
• July 8 v Samoa (Apia)
• July 17 v Argentina (Christchurch)
• July 25 v South Africa (South Africa [TBD])
• August 8 v Australia (Sydney)
• August 15 v Australia (Auckland)
