Congratulations

 Barely a Foot Wrong

Congratulations to the All Blacks.  Best game we have seen them play in a long, long time.

Scenes of monstering the Aussie scrum late second half were a sight to behold!

Robbie Deans was honest, as ever, as reported in the Sydney Morning Herald. 

DEJECTED Wallabies coach Robbie Deans says his side was outplayed in every facet of last night's semi-final and were never given the opportunity to even get into the match by an All Blacks side he rated the best he had ever coached against. 

New Zealand dominated the match from the onset and Deans said the home side was simply ''superior''.
''It was a very good performance by the All Blacks and they deserved to win that contest,'' Deans said. ''Their work in the air was superior to ours. They secured the ball in the air where we didn't and when we made mistakes they were able to put more pressure on our attack where we didn't on theirs. So that was a point of difference.

''Quade was obviously a part of that [being in the back three]. The All Blacks are a very good defensive side. And the harder you have to work for it, you become a little bit inhibited. And we lost our fluency.  ''Credit to the All Blacks. They attacked the ball hard at the breakdown and they denied us that.''

Aussie rugby literati are acknowledging that the All Blacks have been the best team in the world for the past four years.  Even Greg Growden who never holds back from the borax is calling for Australia to get behind the All Blacks.

C'mon, Australia, let's get behind our neighbours

Greg Growden 

October 17, 2011

In the end, the Wallabies didn't get close. In the only Australia-New Zealand match which really mattered over the past four years, the All Blacks showed how superior they were, how their attitude will constantly win them the big battles, how they can apply the power game with such tremendous effect, and how easy it is to rattle the Wallabies. Ireland did it in the pool stage, when they showed how the Wallabies struggle to use their brains in pressure situations.

And New Zealand did it even better last night, because the Wallabies were more resilient and street-wise than they were a month ago, but were still swept away by the All Blacks' might. The 20-6 scoreline was not a true indicator of the All Blacks' dominance, because they were at least a 25-point better side, forcing the Wallabies to play with desperation but never really being a threat, especially when their kicking game fell apart and they lost the aerial battle.

One final note: it was a superb ref performance by Craig Joubert.  Unobstrusive, clear, fair, consistent.  Australia were awarded sufficient penalties that had they been down in the All Black's half they could have mounted their scoreline regularly.  No-one could complain about quixotic rulings. 

Now for the "big one".  Already the French are being written off.  Now when have we seen that before?  Try Cardiff, four years ago.