Source : ABC NEWS
It was brutal, but the Wallabies knew they had to confront the reality of Saturday night’s defeat to the All Blacks sooner rather than later.
“The group came together Sunday morning, faced the music a little bit,” Wallabies fullback Tom Wright said in Sydney on Monday.
By “music”, Wright was referring to the 50-19 scoreline dished out by the All Blacks at Eden Park, which meant their hold of the Bledisloe Cup will stretch into a 24th consecutive year.
Having made a promising start to narrowly trail 17-14 at half-time, the Wallabies were blown away in the second term.
The All Blacks shifted gears after the break, scoring five tries to one as they added another chapter to the Wallabies’ dismal history at Eden Park.
The Wallabies have not defeated the All Blacks at their spiritual home since 1986.
The result also brought the Wallabies’ six-match unbeaten run to an end, after their recent form created hope they could snap their Auckland losing streak.
“No-one wants to be on the receiving end of 50 points and no-one wants to be on the receiving end of a loss,” Wright said.
“But at 17-14, we were right in the contest.
“The game was there to be taken. We squandered a couple of chances.”
The All Blacks have held the Bledisloe Cup since 2003. (Getty Images: Hannah Peters)
Among those opportunities was a line-out throw deep inside All Blacks territory early in the second half.
The All Blacks chose not to contest the line-out as they prepared to counter a driving maul.
Instead, the Wallabies wasted an ideal attacking platform and the chance to claim the lead by giving away a penalty at the set-piece, allowing the All Blacks to exit their 22.
The home side proceeded to move play down field, resulting in Cam Roigard’s 48th-minute try.
“It’s a game of moments,” Wright said.
“We earned opportunities to get close to their line really early in the second half.
“We weren’t disciplined enough to execute a play and that was right down on their try line.
“We were pleased with how we started the second half and then there was a snowball effect of moments.”
Wright noted the All Blacks “physically imposed themselves” during the match while also dominating one of the key battlegrounds: contestable kicks.
The All Blacks retained possession from eight of their 11 contestable kicks, with Roigard particularly effective from scrum half.
All six of the contestable kicks he launched were retrieved.
The All Blacks dominated the aerial battle against the Wallabies. (Getty images: Fiona Goodall)
The Wallabies could not compete with the All Blacks in this part of the game, despite having aerial threats such as wingers Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Max Jorgensen.
They enjoyed the upper hand in contestable kicks when they defeated the world champion Springboks 42-38 in Perth late last month.
“We saw that the ABs were able to apply pressure the same way we’ve done previously,” Wright said.
Back on Australian soil, the Wallabies have shifted their attention to Saturday’s return Test against the All Blacks at Sydney’s Stadium Australia.
The Bledisloe Cup may not be at stake, but the Wallabies’ pride is on the line as they look to end a 12-Test losing run against their trans-Tasman rivals.
With the post-match review of the Eden Park defeat done and dusted, Wright maintained the Wallabies were moving forward.
“I certainly don’t think there’s any mental scars,” Wright said.
