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The Wallabies started like they finished Bledisloe I but were shut out in a second-half show of strength by the All Blacks, leaving coach Joe Schmidt plenty to ponder as he casts his gaze to the northern hemisphere battles to come.
The Wallabies shifted their approach, with more running rugby and fewer box kicks before falling to the same old result in New Zealand.
The 33-13 loss was Schmidt’s fifth from his six Rugby Championship games. His 4-5 record is somewhat padded by the July Tests against Georgia and an understrength Wales and fans can have some trepidation about the four northern hemisphere games looming in November.
At first, Schmidt’s change-up seemed to take the hosts by surprise and his team should have been ahead even before Fraser McReight dived over for their only try of the game on six minutes.
Schmidt’s team is growing as an attacking force but after being reined in in recent weeks their more expansive game did result in some errors. Their defence was better than a week before – how could it be anything but?
Schmidt says he’s still in development mode with the Lions tour down under next year his overriding priority. That’s also the scheduled end of the line for him, at least going by the his current contract.
“Going north for us is still about building depth, because this year’s big project was about building depth,” he said afterwards.
MATCH REPORT: GUTTED WALLABIES SWAMPED BY ALL BLACKS
REACTION: ALL BLACKS WIN WITH BRUTALITY AND PRECISION
“We’ve had 16 debutants and a new leader and Harry’s done very, very well. Those those four Test matches, they make up the Lions for next year so we get a good look at their personnel.
“It’s a bit like when we come up against the All Blacks here, you know it’s going to be a really tough tour but if we can keep building through that tour then I think we’ve put ourselves in a position of potentially being competitive next July.”
There were no real disasters on the Australian team on Saturday, and in a way that’s a big part of the problem.
Noah Lolesio was okay at No.10. Okay is not going to win you many Tests against the top five nations but it seems pointless to blame him again for a lack of depth in the playmaker role in Australia. It’s not like there’s an obvious replacement. Lolesio kicked well from the tee and produced a big tackle to bring down Will Jordan in the second half.
(Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
“Noah needs to boss this team around, get his hands on the ball a bit more, and be that first receiver,” said Tim Horan, almost with a sigh.
I need to cut down on the beers, pay less attention to personal insults in the comments section and lose 15 kilograms of belly fat. But it’s just not going to happen.
Len Ikitau had his quietest game in the championship, and Hunter Paisami made a couple of poor errors in the first half, pushing passes that didn’t need to be pushed after some inventive backline bursts had opened up the All Blacks’ defence. Schmidt was happy enough with both centres, though.
“I felt Hunter Paisami worked his butt off today. Lenny Ikitau did some great stuff,” said the coach.
Jake Gordon and Tom Wright had similar moments of wastefulness. Why Gordon didn’t simply apply downward pressure on his second-minute chance to claim an opening try – instead trying to scoop it up only to knock it on – we’ll probably never know.
Wright was a handful as usual but would love to take back the left-to-right pass that bounced well in front of Andrew Kellaway and bobbled over the touchline.
After a decent start there was just so much meh, although still a few shining lights despite the gloomy confirmation of the RC wooden spoon.
Fraser McReight continued to win plaudits, particularly in a first half in which all the Wallabies were better than the second.
“Great with carry, working hard, covering up his teammates, pressure at the breakdown and an attacking threat. He’s getting better and better,” said Morgan Turinui of McReight on Stan Sport.
“He’s the perfect example of what happens when Joe Schmidt gets time with his team, gets time with his player. If you’re a Wallaby now, Joe Schmidt gets to do the fun things with his team.”
Sonny Bill Williams said McReight “can do it all. He’s really come of age in the last few Tests. Almost the best player on the field. I thought it was going to be a long time before we’d seen someone that stepped into the role of Michael Hooper, but I think we’ve found him.”
McReight won’t be happy rewatching the tape when he notices the ease with which Will Jordan stepped him for a first-half try. Although the All Blacks star has a habit of making defences look lost.
Australia’s best, though, was Waratahs winger Dylan Pietsch, on his first start in his fourth Test.
He ran strongly, produced some brutal tackles and was excellent in the air – the moment where he leapt from well outside the field to keep a Beauden Barrett penalty kick in play was a much more athletic and graceful grab than anything the Sydney Swans had managed earlier Saturday.
(Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)
“He did really well,” said Schmidt. “He was cramping in both calves and he still played, I felt, really well.”
Pietsch’s impact surprised All Blacks great Andrew Mehrtens.
“It’s a lot better than when he first made his debut in Super Rugby where I thought he looked a little bit timid,” said Mehrtens.
“His physical engagement has been fantastic and he’s one of those guys that’s going to lift teammates by just the fact he puts his head down and thinks, okay, there’s nothing else on here, I’m just going to take on the All Blacks physically and they can get in behind him.”
Pietsch said: “My game’s based on effort and I just tried to bring that today. Joe really simplified it for me. He said, ‘mate, just tackle hard and try and be in as much of the contest as you can’. And that’s what I tried to do.
Andrew Kellaway, on the wing, had his best match of TRC, his game unshackled by Schmidt’s expansive strategy.
And after copping a pasting from fans for his 35-minute effort in the Argentina debacle a few weeks back, Taniela Tupou deserves his flowers for a big-hearted effort in a Wallabies pack that showed real promise that its power and cohesion is growing.
Tupou went down with a knee knock in the opening minute and for a moment it looked like it might have been something far worse – on the scale of the Achilles tendon rupture he suffered in 2022. But the big man got up and played briefly with a heavily bandaged knee before having it removed and soldiering on without it.
Early in the second half he was injured again, his shoulder hurt in a tangle with Sam Cane.
By the time he left and was replaced by Allan Alaalatoa there were real Black Knight in Monty Python’s Holy Grail vibes coming from Tongan Thor.
