All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson has described his relief at his side escaping Sydney with the Bledisloe Cup victory over the Wallabies that could very easily have been a defeat.
His side’s final-quarter woes struck again at Accor Stadium during the 31-28 victory.
Up 21-0 at one point and with a four-try bonus point after 25 minutes, the All Blacks contrived to almost throw it all away against a Wallabies side attempting to bounce back from one of their worst ever defeats a fortnight ago.
Two yellow cards in the final 15 minutes for Anton Lienert-Brown and Caleb Clarke could have done for an All Blacks team attempting to put their two defeats to South Africa behind them, but, as Robertson said, they found a way, even despite scoring only three points in the second half.
A more pressing problem is the medial knee ligament injury to Jordie Barrett which will put him in doubt for next weekend's Test at the Cake Tin.
“I’m just really proud of the effort and the care,” Robertson said. “There were some incredible efforts at the end there with some incredible defence. We scrambled. A couple of yellow cards, we just found a way to win it.
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“Full respect to the Aussies. We just didn’t quite finish those opportunities we’ve been creating all year. There were big momentum swings. When the score is like that there’s always a bit of trepidation that you’ve just got to keep going and get those final passes to stick but they didn’t and we got into a hell of a battle.
“There’s so much importance on the cup. We talked about it this week – it’s important to so many people and we had to honour it. We found a way.”
Damian McKenzie’s composure, or lack of it, will be a focus before the return match at Wellington next weekend.
Asked whether McKenzie would be “slapped on the wrist” for a couple of his final passes, Robertson said: “Slap him on the wrist? No, you have a conversation because you want them to trust their skillsets and be instinctive because that’s his greatest gift. Find space, glide, but put it on someone’s chest. Give it maybe a step earlier… but keep trusting himself.”
The Wellington return match is a dead rubber in terms of the Bledisloe but it still carries Rugby Championship points and the All Blacks will want to show far better efficiency in their finishing.
Jordie Barrett and the impressive Cortez Ratima had two tries ruled out, with Tupou Vaa’i held up over the line. Had even one of those scores counted the momentum could have carried the All Blacks to a far more impressive win, as skipper Scott Barrett noted.
“To be called back or held up when we did have them under the pump… a few ripped balls…” he said. “The finishing wasn’t quite there in the second half. Aside from that we did dig deep and hang on with two guys on the sideline. I was immensely proud of the effort of the 13.
“It’s execution, really, that’s all it is. It’s being steely in those moments to finish it. When we do have teams under the pump it could be the difference between putting 20 points on them.”
Ratima, loose forward Wallace Sititi and replacement halfback TJ Perenara were all standouts for the visitors, who were disrupted by a late change caused by Beauden Barrett's illness. It meant Will Jordan went to fullback, Sevu Reece to the right wing, and Harry Plummer on to the bench for what was his Test debut.
Of the Joe Schmidt-coached Wallabies, Robertson said: “They showed a bit of grit. Like any Aussie team they just won’t go away, they’ll just keep fighting.
“When you’ve got all these fans turn up in a big stadium it’s a big moment for a cup they haven’t won for a long time. We knew at some stage we’d get in a fight like that. We didn’t plan to go that deep but they’ve got some great young talent and some spirit and fight.”
Was the victory “bitter sweet”, he was asked.
“Bittersweet? We won the cup. We found a way. I’m really pleased. The last three Test matches have come to a pass, a ref’s call, a moment’s decision making. That’s Test footy. We’re learning quick. We getting experience to win these tight games so it will taste sweet.
“I’m an optimist but I’m a realist too. We’ll show the clips to be better, we’ll be clear on that. We get to perform in front of our people in Wellington… we need to perform.”
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