The honeymoon is over for Les Kiss and Doomsday protocols have been activated. Australia’s embarrassing capitulation to the All Blacks – their 13th in a row – is a cold reminder of where the Wallabies sit in rugby’s world order. In a year these teams meet in Sydney again at a World Cup.
But the gulf between them remains massive. The Kiss Army’s defeat of world No 1 South Africa last month filled the golden sails with wind and left the Wallabies unbeaten after six Tests. Last week at Eden Park they at least held the All Blacks to parity at half-time before giving up 26 unanswered points.
But this was an understrength All Blacks and the men in gold still got monstered. The sun was shining and the stadium was heaving after Australia’s Sevens men held Fiji to a 19-all draw and the Wallaroos rattled up their biggest win against Scotland. But the headline act tanked hard.
Again the Wallabies were their own worst enemies. Two kickoffs out on the full and a spluttering attack that botched four final-pass options in the first 10 minutes, playing too cute when they needed composure. As in the last Bledisloe Test here in 2024, Australia had badly bungled the first act.
Back then, it was 21-zip after 15 minutes before the Wallabies got on the scoreboard. Here it was 22-0 in almost as many minutes before the home side found a response. If Damian Mckenzie had not shanked three of four conversions it would have been worse.
Those line breaks we offered, those missed tackles. The All Blacks are so clinical and they knock you off. A lot of young guys learned a lot but as a team there’s got to be more thinking about what it really means to turn up.” Instead they tuned out.
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