Second thrashing in a week makes a mockery of the hosts’ ambitions for next year’s World Cup

Australia 21 New Zealand 43

The ruthless All Blacks embarrassed the Wallabies in their final home Test of the year, brushing aside the golden pretenders 43-21 in Sydney, a second thrashing in a week that makes a mockery of the hosts’ ambitions for next year’s World Cup.

The All Blacks were too fast at the breakdown, the ball hardly slowing as the New Zealanders appeared to advance it at will. They spoiled all but three Wallaby attacking forays, aided by errors and execution failures.

Captain Harry Wilson was blunt after the Wallabies’ 13th straight loss against their trans-Tasman rivals. “It’s not good enough for this group, we’ve got to be a lot better,” he told Channel Nine.

“We’ve got to start better. We had a terrible second half in the first game [of the series]. We had a terrible first half this game. We can’t be having terrible halves against the All Blacks. In the second half, we showed a bit of grit, but it’s too late, mate. We can’t be that far behind.”

Two second-half tries by the Wallabies thinned the margin slightly, but could not temper the conclusion obvious to all those who watched. So comprehensive was this defeat, Australia’s standing before next year’s showpiece must now be re-evaluated. From outsiders for the trophy aided by home support, Les Kiss’s side are now utterly irrelevant, likable entertainers at best. Maybe they will provide a good excuse for a party after the victory over Hong Kong in the opener.

The turnaround of the past two weeks is such a disappointment for the long-suffering Australian rugby community after the early promise shown under Kiss. Any momentum has now evaporated and the Wallabies find themselves in reverse.

Kiss was scathing in his assessment of the team’s first half. “There’s got to be a little bit more thinking about what it really means to actually turn up in that first half and make sure we don’t make those errors that we did,” he said. “It’s just not acceptable what was put out there.”

The enduring image of this catastrophe of an afternoon was the second try for All Blacks’ Josh Moorby, when a feigned overhead pass fooled Max Jorgensen and Ryan Lonergan – two of the most impressive Wallabies in recent months. Stationary in the late afternoon sun, the Australian pair were little more than a guard of honour for the All Blacks winger who crossed untouched.

Much of the speculation among the Australian rugby community before the match was how Declan Meredith would fare. The outhalf was responsible for two outstanding moments in the second half, including a near try when put through by impactful substitutes Angus Bell and Josh Canham, and a counterattack from a cheeky Tom Wright short drop-out. But any deep assessment of individuals would be an indulgence after a one-sided shellacking that was over before half-time, even if the contest showed promise in its early stages.

The All Blacks were forced into a late change when Jordie Barrett pulled out with calf tightness. His absence was amplified when Quinn Tupaea left the field dazed after hitting his head on the turf after just one minute.

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, back at 13 after two Tests on the wing, was influential early alongside Wright and Jorgensen, who twice found space down the right. But it was the movement left off a lineout that almost put Australia ahead. The final ball from Jorgensen went to ground when Harry Potter and Wright both had clear space in front of them.

The inability to make the most of early field position was punished when the All Blacks ventured up the other end for the first time. Wright and Potter made try-saving tackles on the left, but when the All Blacks spread it to the openside the golden line was stretched thin and Moorby crossed.

Within three phases off the restart the All Blacks were back on the Wallabies’ line, their ruck speed like lightning, and in another three Peter Lakai was over for another. A Lonergan box kick drifted too deep, allowing the All Blacks to clear their lines easily, then the hosts lost the ensuing lineout. Within a minute Rieko Ioane was over in the corner and the score was 22-0.

Finally there was something for the home crowd to cheer when Meredith put Jeremy Williams over. His joy was short-lived when at the other end a harsh offside call saw him yellow carded. From the base of the scrum Wallace Sititi snuck over to resume normal programming. A Barrett intercept from a Jorgensen pass, punished with a runaway try, and the conversion from McKenzie, made it 36-7 at the break.

After Moorby’s sleight of hand and try early in the second period, the Wallabies bench players stemmed the bleeding. Jorgensen, Wright and Potter combined twice down the right to record Australia’s second five-pointer, and Filipo Daugunu scored after Meredith and Wright’s quick thinking. The match petered out, as Harry McLaughlin-Phillips relieved Meredith for his debut.

The Bledisloe Cup whitewash restores some pride after the All Blacks’ 3-1 series defeat to South Africa. Their ability to do it with a long injury list including their captain Ardie Savea, their two top outhalves Ruben Love and Richie Mo’unga, and their influential centre Jordie Barrett, confirms their place as the major challenger to the Springboks at next year’s World Cup.

– Guardian