It was a little unfair that the return of Dan Carter and the sheer spectacle and tradition of the match was overlooked in favour of tabloid-like discussions relating to the the style of play.
Having said that, a sports success depends on the attractive nature of the game and clearly Carter and Giteau did not read 'all the talk' as the game consisted of more kicks than the Karate Kid and Bloodsport movies combined.
The Wallabies played anything like Robbie Deans old Canterbury Crusaders, and more like the style that has plagued them for the past 3-4 seasons. It was static, fragmented and reactive rugby. It was only when the All Blacks had scored 'the' try (there was only one in the whole game), that the Wallabies actually began to play running rugby. Up until that point it seemed that they had were stuck in a rut of trying to win no matter how unattractive (i.e. kicking goals and that's it). The irony of the style of play for the match was that the All Blacks, coached by the unpopular Graham Henry, played more like the Crusaders under
Nathan Sharpe was my pick for man of the match. He played a game that was reminiscent of John Eales. He was dominant in the lineout. He ran more than an African marathon runner. He was everywhere. With a bit more speed he could have turned his numerous line breaks into tries. So many times last night he was almost through to white line glory before he was cut down by an All Black back in cover.
As for the game well thankfully the All Blacks played a little bit of running rugby, care of their Fijian influences out wide and their man-make-up wearing centre, but all in all it was game that will not go down in the annals of great bledisloe cup matches.
The try by Nonu had essences of Horan to Campese in 1991 world cup, but it was a brief highlight in an otherwise tedious match. It was really only in the last 10 minutes where people actually really started paying attention to the match and that by virtue of the close scoreline, not necessarily because of the play on the field.
Carter stole victory from the Wallabies with a late penalty with the final scoreline reading 19 - 18 to the All Blacks.
Match Rating: Game to miss...3 out of 10
http://www.rugbyheaven.com.au/news/news/all-blacks-retain-bledisloe/2009/08/22/1250362261002.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/8203840.stm
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