All Blacks captain Sam Cane and his teammates celebrate after winning the Bledisloe Cup in Melbourne 2022. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Analysis - Breathtaking. That's the best word you could use to describe the All Blacks' thrilling 39-37 win over the Wallabies at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne last night - although it's fair to say the Aussies might have some far less printable ones after the way it finished.
And it so easily could have been the other way around. It was looking like the All Blacks almost found another, somehow more painful way to drop a test match in 2022, giving up a 31-13 lead they'd built in the first hour. It was earned the hard way too, with the All Blacks taking it to the Wallabies in the first 10 minutes of each half. Individual brilliance from Richie Mo'unga, Beauden Barrett and Will Jordan turned the tide into a far more familiar-looking scoreline for New Zealand fans.
But while it seemed like Ian Foster's team had turned a corner, it soon became apparent that Dave Rennie's similarly inconsistent Wallabies had followed right behind them. Bernard Foley wound the clock back to his 2015 World Cup form after being brought back in from the wilderness. Pete Samu, Rob Leota and Rob Valetini took it upon themselves to punish the All Blacks' drop in intensity, with the former Crusader Samu scoring the try that levelled the scores.
By that point, the 53,000-strong crowd was either cheering or staring in disbelief. Melbourne's huge New Zealand community turned out in force, so it felt as though the support for each side was equal. It also helped that Melbourne certainly knows how to put on an event, with the two-decade-old Marvel standing as an almost cruel glimpse at what would have happened if Auckland had actually built a waterfront stadium. The roof was closed and kept the atmosphere pumping out onto the field, as well as a fair degree of smoke from the pregame fireworks.
But really, this game is only really going to be remembered for one thing: Mathieu Raynal's call at the end to award a scrum to the All Blacks after Foley, who had played such a heroic role, dithered and dithered and died. At the post-match press conference, it was fair to say that there were very different views on the dramatic finish.
Rennie did his best to be diplomatic about it, but couldn't help but throw out a jab at Raynal by saying that rugby "needs refs with a feel for the game". Meanwhile Foster might be the only guy in the world who would say that it was a "clear cut" and seemed rather prickly about the whole thing. It certainly would be interesting to have seen how both coaches would have reacted if things had been around the other way. Or if it had happened in a World Cup final.
Foster did bring up a pretty fair point though - that there should be some serious questions asked about Andrew Kellaway's first try and the circumstances around it seemingly getting referred to the TMO for what looked like a forward pass, only for it to be confirmed when Foley ignored Raynal and knocked over the conversion.
There are other talking points, like Darcy Swain's shot on Quinn Tupaea that may well see the midfielder out for the rest of the season. Then the All Blacks' inability to cash in on a two-man advantage. Jordie Barrett finally getting a chance in the midfield and what that means for next weekend. Plus the fact that while the All Blacks can spend another night drinking out of the Bledisloe Cup, someone should really be buying Foley a beer for his ill-advised attempt at time-wasting.
This was, again, another imperfect All Black win in a wildly inconsistent season. While back-to-back victories have finally been achieved, the difference between both is stark - just the solitary penalty goal conceded in Hamilton and then 24 haemorrhaged in the last 15 minutes in Melbourne.
You have to hand it to them, though. They were down and out after the furious Aussie fightback and still found a way to get the job done. That, really, might be the most positive sign of all.
