Sir John Kirwan believes that while Australia didn’t put enough pressure on the All Blacks during the two Bledisloe Cup Tests, Dave Rennie can take important positives from the victories.
New Zealand defended the trophy with back-to-back wins over the Wallabies in Auckland and Sydney, claiming 50-19 and 43-21 victories, respectively, with the All Blacks dominating the second half of the first Test match and the first half of the second to blow Australia off the park.
Kirwan admits that he struggles to gauge just how good of a team the Wallabies are following the two Tests but says that Rennie can be pleased by his team’s performances having tested his depth over the two fixtures.
Sir John Kirwan and Victor Matfield’s Bledisloe Cup takeaways
He added that Les Kiss’ side failed to put the New Zealanders under pressure like South Africa did during Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Test series, but even so, he believes that the All Blacks learned from the defeats to the Springboks.
“I was really, really happy for 56 minutes, and I think we’ve really learned. The team is getting better, and that is the most important thing,” Kirwan said on the Rivals Rugby podcast.
“Australia did not put us under the same pressure [as South Africa]. So, a lot of the things you can’t measure, but I think the team is getting better.
“I like the players that have come back in; I think Scott Barrett’s been amazing, and the good thing is when we’ve got injuries as we have, guys are stepping up. So for me, really, really happy.”
The legendary All Blacks winger was joined on the show by former Springboks lock Victor Matfield, who agreed that Rennie can be pleased with the result in the second Test match. Especially after Jordie Barrett’s late withdrawal, forcing a change in the centres, with Quinn Tupaea forced off the pitch in the opening minutes of the game.
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“The way the All Blacks were going in the first half, I thought this might be like a 70 or 80-point margin,” Matfield said.
“It’s always difficult when you go in at half-time, and the game is won; there was no chance of them really coming back, but the All Blacks just lost a bit of shape, lost a bit of discipline. That first 40 was just unbelievable.
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“The thing that they can be most happy about is that Jordie Barrett got injured before the game- probably one of your best players; someone else steps in, then Tupaea gets injured, Rieko comes on, and that’s the depth coming through.
“Look at fly-half: the two first-choice guys weren’t there, and still the other guys stepped up – very impressive from the All Blacks in the Bledisloe Cup Tests.”
One gripe
Kirwan also hailed the overall spectacle of the match but said both the players and coaches won’t be pleased with the fourth official who disrupted the flow of the match. The former winger’s main grip was with the review of Cam Roigard’s action in denying Wallabies fly-half Declan Mederith a try around the hour mark.
“Now, I don’t want to be controversial, but I thought in the last 25 minutes, with the TMO coming in for something silly, then a yellow card, it just broke up the rhythm of the game,” he said.
“It was a great game from a rhythm point of view, and then in the last 25 minutes, the Aussies were getting on a roll and then the game broke up, and it sort of fell apart a wee bit. So the players and the coaches won’t be happy with the last 20 minutes.”