mens
international
Wallabies coach Les Kiss is unsure if he will find the answers in time All black people held an attacking masterclass to deliver the 2027 draft Rugby World Cup glory with another Bledisloe Cup win in Sydney.
While Kiss remains “optimistic,” Saturday’s 43-21 score after being shellacked 50-19 in Auckland secured valuable silverware for the 23rd consecutive year, once again exposed the gulf in class between the two trans-Tasman ‘rivals’.
“Yeah, six to two (in the world),” lamented Kiss after the Wallabies leaked seven tries in a meek defensive display that was punctuated by some shambolic attack.
“It’s not good enough,” said the “spent” captain Harry Wilson.
But the lion-hearted Wilson and the rest of the attacking pack were not to blame for this latest humiliation.
The clumsy back line was – mostly golden boys Max Jorgensen and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii.
Wing Jorgensen had an early try to score before bursting out of the defensive line to set the All Blacks open in a 14-point run that may have changed the match.
And Suaalii looked all to sea defending at outside centre.
He missed five tackles while fellow code jumper Mark Nawaqanitawase suddenly looked like a sage on whether to represent or not Fiji instead of Australia on its international rugby come back next year.
With less than a year to go before Australia’s World Cup opener against Hong Kong in Perth, Kiss can’t promise he’ll have time to turn his side’s fortunes around enough to challenge for the Webb Ellis Cup.
But he remains defiant.
“The time we have is the time we have,” Kiss said.
“I believe in these guys deeply in what is possible.
“I’ve always said we’re going to have our ups and downs and today was a bit off again but there are some good signs from what we’re trying to do in our game.
“When we play with our foot in hand, with positive intent, we make a lot of breaks against one of the best teams in the world.”
But Kiss’ honeymoon is apparently over after the Wallabies went unbeaten in his first six Tests in charge and swept the two-time defending world champions Springboks just last month.
Despite being shown the door Rugby Australia four years ago, All Blacks coach Dave Rennie refused to publicly offer any satisfaction for so ruthlessly plotting the downfall of his old Wallabies Bledisloe.
“It’s not about me,” Rennie said.
“I’m loving my time here. I got to work with a lot of great people. It was nice to catch up with those guys last week and, again, we’re going to have a beer with them in the locker room tonight.”
“Well, yeah, I’m really delighted for our lads. They’re good people who’ve worked really hard and we’ve got an important trophy back in the cabinet.”
Now Rennie is promising the All Blacks will chase the World Cup in exactly the same stylish attacking way he could have the Wallabies playing at the 2023 edition. France if RA hadn’t fired him to usher in a disastrous second Eddie Jones era.
“There’s no point playing like this and then going to the World Cup and trying to play risk-free,” Rennie said.
“We are aware that you can put yourself under pressure the way we try to play, but we will also back ourselves to profit more than suffer in those situations.
“I don’t think you want all the teams in the world to play the same game.
“If you look at the Wallabies, they are quite similar to us. They will want to play and that is the point of difference, part of the ?DNA of both sides.”
“If you just want to engage in ‘arm wrestling’ with a few big sides in the world, it’s going to be a struggle.”