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Wallabies coach Dave Rennie.
the Wallabies They were buried in a “barrage of mistakes,” Australian media commentators lamented Monday after their team again failed to break a decades-old hoodoo at New Zealand’s Eden Park.
Australia’s inability to win at Auckland Stadium spanned 34 years after being outscored by the All Blacks 27-7 on Sunday.
They were punished for poor defensive performance, guilty of too many handling errors, conceding a series of turnovers and missing a whopping 40 tackles to New Zealand’s 23.
“The Wallabies were plunged into an avalanche of their own mistakes”, said the Sydney Morning Herald.
“The attitude was there, but the execution was very bad at Eden Park … It was difficult to keep track of the errors, but three errors in the second half in a row were damaging.”
They included Marika Koroibete who failed to get the ball down in the corner, Brandon Paenga-Amosa’s double move that cost them a try and Jordan Petaia’s carelessness that allowed Sam Cane to cross for five points.
“The pressure caused some of the mistakes, but (coach) Dave Rennie will demand more from his players upon his return to Australia. It was not good enough.” added the newspaper.
The Australian newspaper was equally relentless, headlining: “New team, same Eden Park story”.
“Australia may have had a relatively new side, but in the end it was an old and tedious story as the Wallabies fell off tackles, struggled to make their hits and allowed the All Blacks to build that fierce, familiar momentum.” He said.
Fox Sports noted that “The Wallabies cannot be their worst enemy. The All Blacks are already quite a tough opponent.”.
The victory put New Zealand in the driver’s seat after two Bledisloe Cup matches, with the first in Wellington a 16-16 thriller.
There are two more to come in the coming weeks in Australia as part of the Rugby Championship, which also includes Argentina, but not world champions South Africa, who withdrew due to lack of preparation.
As critics mounted, the Sydney Daily Telegraph took a more optimistic line, saying that the Wallabies “are showing the beginning of something.”
“The All Blacks were unstoppable, imposing, unbelievably brutal in their execution of counterattacks and turnover sweeps,” wrote.
“Australia is not capable of this level of rugby, yet. It could be, judging by the signs.
“They have raised their skill level significantly; the running lines are sharper, their play is a little more reliable. And they show more strength.”
The two archrivals will meet on October 31 in Sydney.
