Test of character awaits Wallabies | Thebigtip

By John Eales from smh.com.au

Imagine facing a 1980s four- pronged West Indian pace attack on a WACA greentop. Or bowling to an enraged Vivian Richards and Gordon Greenidge on a flat track with short boundaries.

That's what Saturday night resembled at Etihad Stadium for the Wallabies as they were completely outclassed and out-muscled by a rampant All Black outfit by 49 points to 28. It was brutality at its most beautiful if you supported the All Blacks.

You know it's been a bad night when you muster all that's left of your will to hex Dan Carter's final conversion attempt and save the score-line ticking over to 50.

In the post-mortems some may say the Wallabies played without heart. This is not true. If it were they would have surrendered – they wouldn't have scored two tries in the second half with just 14 men on the field. But even in scoring those two tries it was akin to tailenders minimising the damage as they never seemed likely to get close enough to threaten.

The All Blacks beat the Wallabies in all the contests. They beat them at the restarts, as Carter's placement was supreme. They beat them at the breakdown, as raw Kiwi power bullied gold jerseys. They beat them in contact, as far too many first up tackles were missed and territory conceded.

Most painfully they also beat the Wallabies between the ears as bad decisions were coupled with poor execution. If you are not as powerful or as pacey, you have to be more lucid. But the touch-line was missed off a penalty kick, handing the All Blacks a reprieve. And in the first lineout after the All Blacks lost Owen Franks to the sin bin, the ball was thrown to the back and conceded - rather than taking the certainty of a conservative throw to where the defending Kiwis lacked a lifter. And of most consequence, Drew Mitchell was red-carded for two yellow card indiscretions, both of which were inane.

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