All Blacks win Beldisloe Cup in controversial finish

By Liam Napier

Classic Bledisloe carnage in Melbourne.

In a captivating contest, in front of a 53,245 crowd at a heaving Marvel Stadium, the All Blacks were saved from the clutches of defeat by a rarely if ever seen call from French referee Mathieu Raynal, who awarded a match-turning infringement for Bernard Foley taking too long to kick the ball from a penalty.

In one of the most dramatic finishes test rugby has witnessed the Wallabies somehow surged back from 31-13 down in the second half to score three tries and stand on the brink of an unthinkable upset triumph.

Halfback Nic White slotted a long-range penalty in the 77th minute to put the Wallabies in front for the first time, only for the All Blacks to win their own penalty and kick for the corner.

Sam Whitelock turned down the shot at goal and the chance to draw the match. The Wallabies repelled the All Blacks maul attempt, winning a penalty which Raynal then deemed Foley took too long to kick into touch, leaving White to blow up at the referee.

From that free kick the All Blacks shifted the ball from the scrum to bash away at the Wallabies line before Richie Mo'unga and Will Jordan combined to put Jordie Barrett in at the corner for the match-winning try well into added time.

The contrasting emotions were stark as the Wallabies immediately sunk to the grass in agony and the All Blacks wildly celebrated as boos rang around the packed arena.

For the All Blacks, relief will soon be front of mind.

The All Blacks ultimately extended their stranglehold of the Bledisloe Cup to a 20th straight year but they should consider themselves very fortunate after a drama-filled match that could easily have slipped from their grasp.

Four yellow cards, wild momentum swings and a long injury list does not tell half the tale.

While the All Blacks recorded their first successive victories of the season, this was another decidedly patchy performance that left many pointed questions ahead of the return match with the Wallabies at Eden Park next week.

As it is the All Blacks have levelled their season ledger at four wins and four losses.

This victory, however unconvincing, will strengthen their Rugby Championship title claims.

A second-half attacking blitz in which the All Blacks ran in three tries – to Samisoni Taukei'aho, Mo'unga and Jordan – propelled Ian Foster's men from a 10-10 halftime deadlock.

That brilliance was short-lived, though.

In between stunning tries and length of the field breakouts the All Blacks produced moments of soft defence, unconvincing breakdown work and a lack of composure on attack to blow several tries while savouring a numerical advantage.

Following their breakout just after halftime, while the Wallabies had two men in the bin, the All Blacks blew the margin out to lead by 18 points.

At that point it should have been shut the gate, crack the beers, lock away the coveted Cup. Instead of closing out the test, they immediately invited the Wallabies back.

Andrew Kellaway's double – his first from a clear forward pass – sparked the Wallabies' belief and they were good enough to carry that on.

Mo'unga nailed a penalty to give the All Blacks a seven-point lead, only for former Crusaders loose forward Pete Samu to score in the corner and Foley to step up and level the scores.

White's penalty could easily have handed the Wallabies a chance to snatch the Bledisloe but the rest, as they say, is history.

The Wallabies, after making eight starting changes following their dispiriting loss to the Springboks, deserve huge credit for pushing the All Blacks to the brink. They were down and out, and had no right to be close at the death.

The All Blacks had to overcome losing David Havili and captain Sam Cane to head knocks; Dalton Papalii to the bin, and Quinn Tupaea to a possibly season-ending knee injury - all in the first half.

The incident that caused Tupaea's injury will spark further fallout after Wallabies lock Darcy Swain dove over a ruck to hit the midfielder's knee, forcing it to collapse in a nasty way. After TMO intervention Swain was ruled to have deliberately targeted Tupaea's lower limbs, earning him a yellow card.

Tupaea's absence forced the All Blacks into a major backline reshuffle. Beauden Barrett came off the bench into fullback and Jordie Barrett shifted to become the third second five-eighth of the night.

With Tom Wright also carded for a professional foul following a stunning 60-metre Caleb Clarke bust, the Wallabies were reduced to 13 men. And, yet, the All Blacks couldn't maintain their attacking composure as they butchered two try-scoring chances with their two-man advantage.

The All Blacks initially picked up where they left off against the Pumas with Mo'unga and Havili leading the variety of kicking game regularly finding space to ignite the attack. In-form hooker Taukei'aho delivered another dominant display with two tries, the first in the third minute helping the All Blacks rapidly establish a 10-0 lead.

Defensively, though, the All Blacks were exposed several times by the Wallabies' second-man backdoor plays.

Just as they failed to do in the second half, the All Blacks could not find the killer blow to put the Wallabies away.

All Blacks 39 (Samisoni Taukei'aho 2, Richie Mo'unga, Will Jordan, Jordie Barrett tries; Richie Mo'unga 4 cons, 2 pens)
Wallabies 37 (Rob Valetini, Andrew Kellaway 2, Pete Samu tries; Bernard Foley 2 pens, 4 cons, Nic White pen)
Halftime: 10-10

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission