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Jerome Kaino charges down Matt Giteau's clearance during the All Blacks v Wallabies in the Tri Nations - Source: Photosport -
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Graham Henry's troops may have failed to deliver a vintage All Blacks performance but as tvnz.co.nz's Chris Matthews reports it was just the injection their season needed.
After spluttering their way through June, a loss to the Wallabies in Auckland on Saturday night would have had the doomsayers in full voice.
Victory - and nothing short of it - was what was required, but after being behind by 10 points after just 10 minutes it looked like talkback radio lines were going to be in for a hell of a battering come Sunday morning.
But with Richie McCaw and Rodney So'oialo back on deck the All Blacks regrouped.
The panic that was all too evident against the French in Dunedin was calmly replaced with a collective intent.
New Zealand worked their way back into the contest on the back of a strong scrum and then showed tremendous patience in attack which eventually led to McCaw's try.
The Wallabies, to their credit, were up 13-10 at halftime and it should have been more had Berrick Barnes not thrown a wild inside ball with the line wide open, however, as the kids went in for oranges, there was a sense that Australia had been figured out.
And so it proved in the second stanza. The lateral attack of the Wallabies was stifled by a defensive line that spread wide and hit hard.
With time nearly up the Australians launched one last desperate raid, yet the All Blacks, and all of the 32,000 at Eden Park, knew that the black wave would not be unlocked.
Jerome Kaino can take a lot of credit for this defensive steel.
His defence was supreme and the team followed his lead in a swarming display that showed pride had been restored in the black jersey.
This was indeed the night that the blindside flanker finally broke free from his predecessor's shadow.
Like Jerry Collins in his heyday, he dished out punishment with a ticker that visibly lifted his team-mates. The hit, and resulting turnover he made on Test centurion George Smith in the 50th minute, was one such tackle.
A big tackle in rugby is priceless. A deed that galvanises a team and Kanio can head to Africa knowing that it was his defence that was instrumental in a crucial All Blacks victory that saw the homeside take the first of four Bledisloe Cup encounters 22-16.
What did you think of the All Blacks performance against the Wallabies? Have your say below
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Post new commentlordflashhart said on 2009-07-20 @ 11:01 NZDT: Report abusive post
The aussies have a pretty decent team. They seem to pretty switched on, focused, and talent all across the park, match winners everywhere. They just need a decent coach, someone like Henry
davelats said on 2009-07-20 @ 08:53 NZDT: Report abusive post
You can't blame Sitivatu for the Barnes try - he was marking three aussies outside him. Had he gone for Barnes one of the other three would have scored!
bringbackbuck said on 2009-07-19 @ 21:54 NZDT: Report abusive post
new zealand rugby surporters need to get off donalds back and let him have a fair crack at the job. we all have very a short memory dan carter didnt hit the ground running it was not until 2005 lions tour that he came good for many test before we were all calling for merts to come back. its not a wonder all all blacks leave and go overseas so early and we dont get there full carer out of them for god sack become real surporters and dont put so much stress on them thats if we want to win 2011
blacktrick said on 2009-07-19 @ 10:14 NZDT: Report abusive post
Tialata would be awesome if he lost 10 kilos, he's to encumbered by his weight, All Blacks improved and we didn't see McCalistair on the park (relief, he would have thrown an intercept try pass for sure ) lets hope the AB's get better with time !!!