It’s not all doom and gloom for the Wallabies –
By TREVINE RODRIGO IN MELBOURNE

Tough critics following the Australian game are all doom and gloom as they lament about another Bledisloe series defeat that stares in the face of the Wallabies who must now confront and overcome the enemy at Eden Park which is the fortress of New Zealand rugby.

But the flamboyant French recently showed that the Kiwis can be unsettled to an extent even at home, despite losing the recent series. The Wallabies must therefore approach this game with the ferocity they displayed in the Sydney loss and hope that fortunes go their way in opportunistic moments that present themselves like the Kiwis did last week.

Beaten in Sydney 38-13 by what looked like a hiding, the Wallabies can reflect on their performance as one where they had the required arsenal to match it with the mighty All Blacks but let themselves down at crucial stages of the game in the second term to completely nullify a gallant performance in the first half.

The All Blacks were forced into an uncharacteristic brand of rugby in Sydney which made them look vulnerable throughout although the final margin of victory looked staggering and indeed flattering. Take away the opportunistic moments that changed the course of the match and the score line could have been much tighter.

Plenty of work is needed in the scrum and line out in particular, which caused the most amount of damage by turnovers making this a work ethic that needs urgent attention. The All Blacks will exploit any chink they sense in these close contests.

The Wallabies played a well-orchestrated brand of rugby drilled on foiling the All Blacks pressure and by it they were able to change the visitor’s strategy to scrambling in defense rather than their renowned silky-smooth skills when they have control of a contest for most of the game. In fact, the All Blacks struggled for fluency in the first half because of the relentless defensive effort of the men in Gold resulting in an uncharacteristic morass of mistakes.

In contests such as these two committed halves is the required minimum, but alas for the Wallabies, their fiery first half appeared to have sapped their momentum and the resultant stream of basic errors caused the blowout.

If lessons have been learnt Michael Hooper’s men must ensure the lapses are rectified. But expect a more committed All Black comeback too as Steve Hansen will not be satisfied with his charges effort being the perfectionist he has been.

The All Blacks for their part can review this as a wake-up call to the closing gap between themselves and the hungry pack in their wake bent on bringing their glorious run at the top of world rugby to a halt.

Returning skipper Kieran Read seemed to have made a difference to the All Blacks previous woes tightening the defense to near what it used to be and stifling many a threatening Wallabies counter attack which would have opened them up.

It all points to a riveting series and if the Wallabies can penetrate their graveyard where they have not tasted success for 32 years. An unlikely success could yet bring back that elusive Cup that has been away from Australia for too long.

South Africa and Argentina also figured in a titanic encounter before the Springboks took control of the game in the second half to win 34-21. The 2018 Rugby Championships promises to be closer this year than ever before.