We hung in there.
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“Just seeing how hard he’s worked to want to be in good shape and play well”.
Cheika may have home-ground advantage but he is in no doubt the favourites are the All Blacks who have only lost two Tests – to South Africa and England – of 45 played since winning the last World Cup.
Winger Milner-Skudder scrambled over for his second to make it 19-17, but Carter missed his second conversion, and White stole the glory to win it late on for the Wallabies.
“I don’t want to be a sad sack… you take a moment congratulate your players and sing the national anthem with pride and loud and you sit down with your mates afterwards in the dressing room like old fashion times and talk about the game and what happened and enjoy that”, he said.
Australia coach Michael Cheika revealed he was inspired by South Africa in his decision to pick both Michael Hooper and David Pocock against New Zealand.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand news media rounded on the All Blacks Sunday saying they deserved to lose the Rugby Championship decider while Australia have become “genuine World Cup contenders”.
Australia were nearly made to regret the amount of scoring chances they left on the park in the first half of their Bledisloe Cup clash with New Zealand.
“The Wallabies were outstanding in the breakdown and we got beaten to the punch so it’s pretty straight up and down [that] as an All Black pack we need to be a lot more physical”.
Australia took their one-man advantage well, but then came the Wallabies’ turn to persevere with 14 men after scrum-half Nick Phipps attempted two tackles from an offside position.
Returning to Australia on a wing and a prayer, Wallabies lock Dean Mumm is set to continue his remarkable resurgence by stepping into New Zealand rugby’s hottest cauldron.
Whichever team lines up, all 23 of the match-day squad will likely need to fire for the Wallabies to post a first win in almost 30 years at the All Blacks’ fortress.
Tight-head prop Kepu steamed through Kieran Read’s tackle and another to score under the bar for Giteau to convert for a 10-6 lead.
Nor should he as an Auckland-born player who once idolised the All Blacks and cheered for them, and was raised knowing what the haka meant to them.
He fashioned a brilliant grubber-kick for Adam Ashley-Cooper to chase, and the winger did not let the opportunity slip as he contrived a stunning try, leaping high and touching the ball down a fraction of a second before being taken out.
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White put Australia a point ahead at 20-19 with a long range penalty after 69 minutes but better was to come from the replacement halfback and he cut through the visiting defence from close range three minutes later to secure the victory. “The All Blacks were simply not accurate enough with ball in hand or at the ruck”, Fairfax rugby writer Toby Robson said.
