mens
international
Les Kiss admits the ruthless All black people gave his side a brutal reality check after heaping more misery on the Wallabies with a crushing 43-21 win in the second leg of the Bledisloe Cup in Sydney.
As promised after securing the trans-Tasman silverware for the 23rd consecutive year with a 50-19 shellacking in Auckland, the All Blacks did not let up in another seven-try defeat on Saturday.
The humiliating defeat well and truly marked the end of the honeymoon period for Kiss after the first-year Wallabies coach enjoyed five wins and a draw from his first six Tests in charge.
“Yeah, six to two (in the world),” Kiss said.
“Just like last week, we saw something similar and this week, those moments just got away from us.
“If we can sort those things out, we’ll be better. We’ll be able to get into the top four, but at this stage we’re six and that’s probably an indicator.”
Devastated skipper Harry Wilson almost apologized to nearly 80,000 mostly disheartened fans.
“I’m devastated,” Wilson said.
“When you give a team like the All Blacks an edge, it’s tough and not good enough in this group.
“We have to be much better. It was a very disappointing series and we will have to regroup.”
“We’ll need to improve a lot with the big spring tour ahead of us and to finish like this, our home tests, is really disappointing.”
In stark contrast, All Blacks coach Dave Rennie is enjoying the sweetest Bledisloe Cup success four years after rugby Australia sacked the New Zealander as Wallabies mentor to usher in a disastrous second Eddie Jones era.
Alarmingly for Kiss and defense coach Scott McLeod, the Wallabies leaked nine tries and 55 points in 55 minutes from trailing just 17-14 just before half-time at Eden Park to the opening five at Accor Stadium on Saturday.
The All Blacks’ point-a-minute blitz came despite losing center Jordie Barrett to a calf injury before kick-off and then center Quinn Tupaea to concussion in the opening 15 minutes.
The New Zealanders were already missing a host of stars, including inspirational captain Ardie Save and flyweights Richie Mo’ung and Ruben Love.
But their absence proved irrelevant as veteran fullback and former world player of the year Beauden Barrett produced a trademark silky image as the All Blacks extended their winning streak over the Wallabies to 13 Tests over six years.
Barrett became New Zealand’s top try-scorer against Australia with his 47th and 48th first-half goals as the All Blacks piled on six tries even before the break to kill the home side’s hopes.
The Wallabies started promisingly enough, dominating the first 10 minutes, with electric winger Max Jorgensen showing a number of brilliant moves.
Jorgensen, however, may regret not offering an inside ball to unmarked fullback Tom Wright instead of going it himself, then bursting out of the defensive line to allow his opposition winger Josh Moorby to stroll in for the first try of the match.
With flanker Peter Lakai unstoppable, the Wallabies kicked possession aimlessly and were unable to contain a Kiwi sack, Barrett’s double and five more points for 8. Wallace Sititi and substitute Riek Ioane gave the All Blacks a 36-7 half-time lead.
Lock Jeremy Williams scored Australia’s only try of the first half in the 28th minute but was booked shortly afterwards, adding to the Wallabies’ woes.
When Moorby grabbed his second try in the first minute of the second half to extend New Zealand’s lead to 43-7, Australia looked set for a record trans-Tasman defeat.
But consolation tries by Wright and replacement center Filipo Daugunu instead added a semblance of respectability to the scoreline.
