First off, well done to Australia. Wasn't a win, but it may as well have been loss to most All Black fans.
My thoughts. Well - For New Zealand it really seems like the result of a bunch of errors we've been making all season. Very frustrating. Instead of counter attacking when things are on - Dagg always kicks. Instead of holding the occasional passes, we'd try and offload when things weren't on. Instead of passing to the outside man, they'd cut in field or take contact needlessly (Ben Smith was guilty of this twice). Balls would drop on the ground and we'd stand and watch. Messam would run sideways instead of straightening. Grubber kicks when it should go through the hands. Aaron Smith's average box kicking. Piri Weepu being involved past the haka. Constant pick and goes near the line despite never looking like ever getting close. All these problems aren't new - they've been happening all season - it's just everyone else has been too sh*t to stop us from winning.
We're really missing Kaino and Thorn. The refereeing of the breakdown I thought was very poor (and I'm a Joubert fan). The number of times all Aussie players were off their feet, lying over the ball etc and yet nothing would be done. It resulted in some very negative play. At least with Thorn and Kaino - we'd move some bodies. There is no All Black who is showing any of the grunt we need. Also if Thorn was on the field, Higgenbotham would be eating yogurt for the rest of his life.
