Les Kiss stood forlornly in the middle of Eden Park wearing a thousand-yard stare. The past 10 Wallabies coaches had all been where he was now, shaking their heads and cursing after a failed attempt to storm the fortress of New Zealand rugby. This was Kiss’s first loss as Australia coach and the little bloke was nursing a big hurt.
His side had arrived on a six-game unbeaten streak, fresh from stomping the world champions South Africa a fortnight before. Conversely, their old enemy were facing a fourth consecutive defeat after falling three times to that same Springboks side. After 25 years of Trans-Tasman pain, the Bledisloe Cup finally looked within reach.
Even the Kiwi supporters sensed it. All over town, Wallabies fans were being treated with respect rather than pity. They had seen what Australia had done against the Boks – the aerial majesty of Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Max Jorgensen, the courage to hang on with 11 men at the death.
This time the threat was genuine. After the anthems, in the calm before the kick-off, a large bloke in a faded gold jersey and three sheets to the wind, stood up and did his very best Gladiator impersonation. The dream was alive when Ben Donaldson’s deft tap-on pass sent Tom Wright slicing into space after seven minutes to ignite the Kiss Army’s march into history.
The All Blacks knew it too and botched the kick-off, surrendering to another attack. But then a traditional failure reared its ugly head: the Wallabies’ ability to self-immolate. Donaldson had delivered a diamond, now he coughed up a rock, wasting the halfway scrum not by feeding his weapons out wide to get them deeper into the enemy lines but instead reefing a mindless, maddening kick for touch.
The ball duly plonked out on the full and the reprieved All Blacks suddenly remembered who they were playing. Peter Lakai scored in a sizzling piece of counterattack for seven-all, then Tupou Vaa’i crossed shortly after for 14-7 and then, with a penalty kick, Australia were down by 10. They cut the margin when Donaldson’s cut-and-run sent Wilson over before half-time, but the usually reliable Ryan Lonergan barely made an easy conversion.
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