The All blacks beat the Wallabies 22-16 at Eden Park on Saturday night.

Whilst there were only 6 points in the result, the All Blacks ran out deserved winners after Australia had dominated the opening 15 minutes.

The Wallabies started off by playing running rugby in greasy conditions and stretched the All Blacks out side initially. They capped this off with a well deserved try to Berrick Barnes. They then seemed to find gaps at will in the All Black defence but butchered a try scoring chance with some bad handling.

Against the All Blacks you have to take your chances, and a 10-0 lead was gradually chipped away at through better field position, and greater go-forward from the All Blacks. This resulted in a penalty to Stephen Donald, before McCaw crashed over for a well-worked try where the All Blacks went through several impressive phases.

The second half was an arm wrestle but neither side were able to score any further tries. at 16-16 it was anybody’s game, but Stephen Donald was able to benefit from sustained All Black pressure and 2 more penalty goals.

I was surprised at the lack of go-forward from each side. Someone to really crash over the advantage line, or out wider, someone to make the line break that either team could benefit from. The Aussies look to be a bunch of no name Aussie battlers, whilst the All Blacks always have game breakers who can punish you. however neither side should worry the Springboks if they are on their game.

I look forward to the game in Bloemfontein this weekend, with the All Blacks having a tough task of travelling and playing at altitude.

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