Australia 25 - 20 New Zealand
Robbie Deans Australia showed great mental toughness to survive a superb second half surge from the All Blacks and claim their first Tri-Nations title since 2001.
Australia registered their first points after four minutes through a Quade Cooper penalty which made the score 3-0. The home side then blew a golden chance to score on eight minutes Cooper cut through the All Blacks defence and had Digby Ioane on his outside, but the pass dropped short of the winger.
But it didn't take the hosts long to cross the line, after a period of heavy pressure inside the New Zealand 22, Will Genia spotted the defence was ragged round the fringes. The scrum-half threw a dummy and burst through the gap to score, Cooper then added the simple conversion to make it 10-0.
The Wallabies were playing with the kind of intensity that some had said they didn't have, they were physical at the ruck and didn't allow Richie McCaw to get into the game. In attack they were composed with the ball; Cooper was pulling all the strings and looked a different player to the one who went to pieces in Auckland earlier in the tournament. The All Blacks were rattled, they were making uncharacteristic errors and they couldn't get into any sort of grove because of the ferocious Wallaby defence; led by the colossal David Pocock who had a sensational game.
New Zealand finally got on the scoreboard after 23 minutes thanks to a simple penalty from Dan Carter. But Australia restored their 10 point advantage after 30 minutes and Quade Cooper made no mistake with his penalty, 13-3.
Robbie Deans men then extended their lead even further, a superb kick chase by Pocock allowed the Wallabies to recover possession on the halfway line. Genia then shipped the ball on to big Radike Samo, the oldest player to ever represent Australia then burst through Adam Thomson and he had the speed to carry him to the line. It was a brilliant individual effort from the Reds number eight, Cooper then added the simple conversion to make 20-3.
The visitors started the second period on fire scoring 17 points in just 20 minutes to pull themselves right back into the game, after they looked dead and buried .
New Zealand got the first points when Dan Carter nailed his second penalty of the game to cut the gap to 14 points. The All Blacks then scored their first try of the game, after 26 phases of play the Australian line was broken by Ali Williams. The ball was then moved wide to Carter who made a half break and offloaded to Conrad Smith who touched down under the posts. Carter added the easiest of conversions to make the score 20-13.
The comeback was complete a five minutes later, Ma'a Nonu linked well with his centre partner Smith and sliced through the defence to score a well worked try. Carter then levelled the scores with a simple conversion.
But Australia showed great mental toughness and hit back within two minutes, Genia once again broke the defence round the fringes and burst clear. He gave the ball to Ioane who drew the defence in and gave the ball to Kurtley Beale who dived over in the corner, Cooper couldn't add the extras so the score remained 25-20. With just eight minutes remaining Cooper had the chance to take the lead past a converted try, but his penalty drifted wide of the posts.
The Australian pack showed brilliant composure to close out the final five minutes and win a magnificent test match and claim the Tri-Nations. The All Blacks will be disappointed with their first half performance, and they will now have a few doubters. The loss of Kieran Read early on was a huge blow which was compounded by the injury to Adam Thomson, Graham Henry will be hoping both players can return very quickly.
But take nothing away from Australia, they came with a game-plan and executed it perfectly. They have shown that they have what it takes to overcome the All Blacks, they now enter the World Cup with brilliant confidence, and more importantly momentum.
Man of the Match
Will Genia
