The All Blacks will head into the Sydney night with conflicting emotions after an odd afternoon in which they retained the Bledisloe Cup thanks to a first-half onslaught and then contrived to almost hand the Test back to Austrlaia.
The facts are that this 31-28 victory in the sunshine in front of 68,000 at Accor Stadium means the Wallabies’ 22-year drought will continue for at least another year, and the All Blacks have a free swing at it next weekend in Wellington.
However, questions will be asked about their wastefulness in possession – an issue throughout this Rugby Championship – which saw them bomb several tries, largely through Damian McKenzie’s overly ambitious passing.
The All Blacks first-five needed to repay Scott Robertson’s faith by showing control in this Test and yet while he did some good things, he also threw away several opportunities, most notably when failing to connect with an unmarked Tamaiti Williams inside him in the second half.
A basic pass would probably have found the big prop and put him over the line. Instead, McKenzie went for an elaborate one which found no one.
The big theme from Scott Robertson this week has been for the All Blacks to rediscover their ruthlessness, especially in the final quarter of Tests. But the search must continue because this was another area of failure and in the end they were scrambling to just hold on.
Making it much, much worse were the yellow cards in the final quarter for Anton Lienert-Brown, for slowing the ball down in a ruck, and Caleb Clarke for an alleged intentional knock-on. Both were in the bin together at one point which made the All Blacks’ 10-point lead after they led 21-0 at one point extremely tenuous.
The visitors had two tries ruled out – one for Jordie Barrett and one for Cortez Ratima – for earlier infractions and they would have been relieved to see centre Len Ikitau’s ruled out in the final few minutes for a knock-on too.
Another sight for sore All Blacks’ eyes was Wallace Sititi’s turnover on his tryline with just over four minutes left.
It all means too that the All Blacks’ final quarter woes under Robertson have continued.
Matt Faessler scores for the Wallabies (Source: Photosport)
The All Blacks managed only a penalty in the second half after tearing the Wallabies to pieces in the opening quarter.
Their opponents outscored them via a converted Hunter Paisami try with 15 minutes remaining, plus a Tom Wright seven pointer with just over a minute remaining. It will be a huge source of frustration for Robertson and his assistants.
It was all so different in the opening quarter.
With McKenzie given time and space he failed to find in South Africa, the All Blacks played off the front foot and dominated virtually every collision.
Will Jordan was put through a huge hole in the second minute, with Rieko Ioane breaking his recent drought for a try on the left after excellent work from halfback Cortez Ratima.
Clarke’s try on the left – he bulldozed his way through two would-be defenders – meant the All Blacks had three tries in 16 minutes.
A try from a slick lineout move for flanker Fraser McReight kept the crowd’s interest, and while Ardie Savea was over soon after for a bonus point try before 25 minutes had gone, hooker Matt Faessler scored another relatively soft try off a lineout drive for the home side.
Jordie Barrett didn’t take the field in the second half due to his leg problem suffered when going over for his disallowed try, an injury that may put him in doubt for Wellington.
For the All Blacks, lock Tupou Vaa’i, loose forward Sititi and halfback Ratima shone.
The All Blacks had a hero in replacement halfback TJ Perenara, too, who organised the defence superbly and tackled like a man possessed in the final quarter.
It seemed unlikely after 25 minutes, but it was just what the All Blacks needed to escape what would have been a humiliating defeat.
All Blacks 31 (Will Jordan, Rieko Ioane, Caleb Clarke, Ardie Savea tries; Damian McKenzie 4 cons, pen)
Australia 28 (Fraser McReight, Matt Faessler, Hunter Paisami, Tom Wright tries; Noah Lolesio 4 cons)
Halftime: 28-14
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