Wow NZ have a great mid field but this game was won firstly by the forwards who gave nothing away and secondly the Back Three who were faultless under Australia's kicks and returned with interest every chance they got. For me that was the two major points of deference tonight.
Cruden did well but he had the ball served to him on a plate, the duties of first receiver were shared with Kahui, Jane, Dagg and Nonu all being used and when Cruden went to ground he had 3-4 All Blacks right there to support him which is exactly what the team needed to do.
Good to see Read back doing the business, if his tackle on Elsom doesn't inspire his teammates nothing will. Same with Kaino who's pickup of Digby right on the line was mind blowing. And McCaw came up with the goods too. Back to lacks now than Collins was the way he has grown over the last few years is mind blowing and he's stood up and take the stage in the most important time in NZ rugby history. He is to this team what Ice Man was in 1987 without question.
I think every single player in black came up with one or more big plays that gave their team momentum. Really the AB's took the upper hand in the game early and never let it go. Mealamu was brilliant in the battle of the advantage line - That guy is a national treasure. Thorn was emense, it's amasing how he's stepped up his game over the last two weeks. Hore and Ali Williams were fantastic of the bench, I think Ali helped add to the dominance in the scrum and hore proved his genuime ability to provide impact - such a luxury to have two world class hookers.
Bizarre game plan from Australia, during the week pictures were coming out of the all blacks in training and they were all of Dagg, Kahui and Jane receiving kicks. Aussie kicked the man of the match award to Jane maybe they should have given up after the first 3-4 faultless takes. Same with the inside ball, it seemed to be all Aussie had - that may have been as a result of the All Black dominance at the breakdown.Wow NZ have a great mid field but this game was won firstly by the forwards who gave nothing away and secondly the Back Three who were faultless under Australia's kicks and returned with interest every chance they got. For me that was the two major points of difference tonight.
Cruden did well but he had the ball served to him on a plate, the duties of first receiver were shared with Kahui, Jane, Dagg and Nonu all being used and when Cruden went to ground he had 3-4 All Blacks right there to support him which is exactly what the team needed to do.
Good to see Read back doing the business, if his tackle on Elsom does inspire his teammates nothing will. Same with Kaino who's pickup of Digby right on the line was mind blowing. And McCaw came up with the goods too. Back to lacks now than Collins was the way he has grown over the last few years is mind blowing and he's stood up and take the stage in the most important time in NZ rugby history. He is to this team what Ice Man was in 1987 without question.
I think every single player in black came up with one or more big plays that gave their team momentum. Really the AB's took the upper hand in the game early and never let it go. Mealamu was brilliant in the battle of the advantage line - That guy is a national treasure. Thorn was immense, it's amazing how he's stepped up his game over the last two weeks. Hore and Ali Williams were fantastic of the bench, I think Ali helped add to the dominance in the scrum and hore proved his genuine ability to provide impact - such a luxury to have two world class hookers.
Bizarre game plan from Australia, during the week pictures were coming out of the all blacks in training and they were all of Dagg, Kahui and Jane receiving kicks. Aussie kicked the man of the match award to Jane maybe they should have given up after the first 3-4 faultless takes. Same with the inside ball, it seemed to be all Aussie had - that may have been as a result of the All Black dominance at the breakdown and contact areas.
