Rugby videos of tackles, tries, funny incidents and more: All Blacks on fire as they beat the Wallabies in Melbourne

Saturday, July 31, 2010

All Blacks on fire as they beat the Wallabies in Melbourne

The All Blacks continued their fine form in this year’s Tri Nations as they won the first of their Bledisloe Cup encounters with Australia 49-28 in Melbourne. They now lead the tournament by an imposing 11 points.

Drew Mitchell had an eventful night on the wing for Australia as he started well with a nice try after charging down a Dan Carter clearing kick. Carter hit back instantly with a charge down try of his own, aided by Ma’a Nonu.

New Zealand went on to lead 32-14 at the halftime break after both sides had players yellow carded for shoulder charges. Mitchell was one of those players. He infringed in the second half after the side were warned about slowing the ball down. He did so, and was shown a second yellow card, resulting in a rare red card for such an offence.

Referee Craig Joubert called Mitchell across, along with frustrated captain Rocky Elsom, telling Elsom "It's not my responsibility what this decision has on the game," before red carding the Wallaby winger.

The game was already seemingly out of reach for the Wallabies who then had to face the battle of playing the next 37 minutes against a rampant All Black side while having just 14 men on the park.

The visitors had scored four tries in the first half, through Carter, Mils Muliaina, Richie McCaw, and Cory Jane. Each one of those players showed their class on the night once again. Muliaina scored again in the second half after some fantastic play by Brad Thorn and Corey Jane, as did Joe Rokocoko and Corey Flynn.

"To score seven tries against Australia in Australia is a great performance," All Blacks coach Graham Henry said."I thought there was some scintillating rugby and the game has improved immensely this year as a spectacle and we're pleased to be part of that."

It was their 12th consecutive Test win and their eighth in a row over the Wallabies. Both sides meet again next weekend in Christchurch.

Note: Feel free to comment on the game here, or discuss on the forum.

wow what an awesome game for the all blacks. though i feel bad for mitchell, bad call on his supposed no arm late shoulder charge and then he was unfortunate to be the next offender for slowing the ball down. As pointed out by the after game show, once the ref warned both captains that he would not tolerate throwing the ball away and preventing teams from taking the quick tap Maccaw warned his team, rocky said nothing to his team.. hence drews confused look . As an all blacks supporter i loved the game. Wassabis will be better next week though.

By ingwe, at July 31, 2010 5:03 pm
cory jane is a legend

By coryjane, at July 31, 2010 5:04 pm
Watched this game on Sky Sports this morning.

As much as i love to see the All Blacks lose, the Australian commentators really irked me.

As soon as Mitchell got sent off they changed their tune to moaning and complaining about every decision that didnt Australia's way.

Attacked Richie all game and turned a blind eye to their own inadequacies.

Completely oblivious to the fact that they were outplayed by a ruthless NZ team they desperately pawed for reasons they were losing.

* Pocock's 'try' - Probably was but how the Aussie commentator can say it was definitely grounded is ridiculous. I sometimes wonder if they're watching the same screen as me.

* Mitchell's red - harsh but understandble

* Beale being called back - "there goes a try" - bollocks, he still had to beat 2 men.

IMO the ref had an excellent game and a refreshing "no nonsense" attitude.

By t0m0, at July 31, 2010 5:08 pm
now that was some hardcore spanking

By Anonymous, at July 31, 2010 5:18 pm
The All Blacks will win the world cup next year.

There. I said it.

By PureMight, at July 31, 2010 6:01 pm
Just pure class from Jane on that try. McCaw was a beast all night too, really got up for the challenge from Pocock. Amazing stuff. However, I thought Joubert was harsh all night, frankly I didn't think any of the yellow cards were warranted.

By Anonymous, at July 31, 2010 6:07 pm
jane is the hardest man to tackle. his movement is so fluid. he is so strong. i still remember he bounced of victor matfield when all blakcs played barbarians last year. he is lightning quick and superb on the air. curretly one of the best fullback/winger on the world right now.

By tecik, at July 31, 2010 6:13 pm
2 statements come off with this game :

1) I don't see how All Blacks could get beaten in their World Cup
2) Refering in this Tri-Nations is freakin' ridiculous and I just hope it won't be the same in NH this season. You can't put a regular hit without being sin binned anymore... Laaaame !

By ToulouseFan, at July 31, 2010 6:19 pm
Great game to watch.
opposite to t0m0, I thought the Ozzie Commentators were quite neutral. They said more than once that the yellow card against the ABs was ridiculous as well as the "dangerous tackle" by whitelock. Also they said, that Mitchell's Red was harsh but totally legimate.

That Elsom obviously didn't speak to his team in contrast to McCaw after being warned was indeed irritating. At that point he was probably too frustated, which shouldn't happen.

Cory Jane is pure class. Also good to see Joe score for a change

By Ben, at July 31, 2010 6:31 pm
was a very good game alround. lovely attacking play from both teams and the defence around the break-down was great at times.

just have 1 complaint about it. in the 60th minute an australian ran into a tackle made by richie mccaw and a number 18 (sorry do not know names) the picked the player up and from what i can see on highlights after the match slightly tipped him but put him safetly back down on his side. but after the match had been stoped at the 61st minute mccaw was called over by the ref and his assistant and was told it was a dangerous tip tackle?

just wondering have i picked up the wrong incident or was there something wrong with this tackle?

By creggs08, at July 31, 2010 6:41 pm
was a very good game alround. lovely attacking play from both teams and the defence around the break-down was great at times.

just have 1 complaint about it. in the 60th minute an australian ran into a tackle made by richie mccaw and a number 18 (sorry do not know names) the picked the player up and from what i can see on highlights after the match slightly tipped him but put him safetly back down on his side. but after the match had been stoped at the 61st minute mccaw was called over by the ref and his assistant and was told it was a dangerous tip tackle?

just wondering have i picked up the wrong incident or was there something wrong with this tackle?

By creggs08, at July 31, 2010 6:41 pm
creggs, it wasn't a tip tackle, 18 brought the man down, didn't upend him and it shouldn't have been called the way it was, i remember joubert saying: "if i knew who it was, it would've been a yellow card" which is ridiculous, 18 carried the man down.

By Anonymous, at July 31, 2010 7:03 pm
Irish ref favouring NZ again...

*cough*

By Mike, at July 31, 2010 7:09 pm
not sure if the cough means your joking,but joubert is south african

By Anonymous, at July 31, 2010 7:33 pm
Typical All Blacks - peaking too early in the year before the World Cup.

Let's just see what happens when the weight of being favourites in their own backyard gets to them.

The pressure on them from the NZ public and media is going to be IMMENSE!

By Anonymous, at July 31, 2010 7:35 pm
Erm he was from South Africa mate, not Ireland

The ref wasn't bad at all, he just didn't tolerate cheeks...

As for the red card, man that was unlucky, bad timing on Mitchell's part...

As an Argentinean looking at this game i don't think the pumas stand a chance if we make it to the tri natios. It will be 70-0 in every game lol

ps: The aussie defence could have been better, from what i could see it was only Pockock who was going low

By Anonymous, at July 31, 2010 7:37 pm
The Wallaby's look like complete crap out there. How are you supposed to be a first rate side,and you can't even handle restarts? The All Blacks are just dominating this years Tri-Nations. Their looking good for the world cup next year. Well until they loss to France.

By Hendrick, at July 31, 2010 7:47 pm
Agree with Ben I think the Aussie commentators put on the most interesting show.. and as far as being biast goes, well they're not. Always congratulating other players skill, interviewing the other coach and players throughout the game. Never happens on the English sky sports.. they just moan about what we do wrong instead of pointing out what they did right. New tightening of laws is shit.. I think there's almost been 7/8 yellows in this tournament. If they hadn't happened the games would have been much closer and intense. Probably not a different result though.

By H, at July 31, 2010 7:54 pm
Nice to see the ABs getting back some of the form they seem to have lost in the last couple of years.

By HeinrichK, at July 31, 2010 7:55 pm
That Brown fella is a bogey

By Anonymous, at July 31, 2010 8:01 pm
Pocock is an animal... I think the red on Mitchell was harsh, but fair. The captains were warned ant it was Rocky's duty to tell the message. Loved it when The ref sat him down like a schoolboy and told him not to shout.

The All Blacks seem to be awfully clinical these days... Every player can run with the ball, pass, kick, tackle...

I'm also getting sick of these so called "tip" tackles. Every smashing hit seems to be illegal nowadays.

Please, Quade, come back soon. The Wallabies need you.

By Juggernauter, at July 31, 2010 8:09 pm
Argentinian fried - the Pumas may take some beatings when they join, but after 10 or 20 years they will be one of the top teams in the world and well able to compete*. I only wish that Argentina joined the 6 Nations, but I think the Tri-nations possibly needed them more. I think it's a great move for Argentina and Southern hemisphere rugby in general in the long term.

*for example, France didn't win a game in the 5 Nations when they joined for about 10 years, but then went on to be the most successful team of all.

By Mike, at July 31, 2010 8:44 pm
Imagine if Whitelock had been yellow-carded for that tackle, the player was down safely, complete nonsense, even Kearns said so. I also thought yellow on Franks was tough, he hammered Richard Brown, and like Ranger last week, Brown bounced back so fast there were no arms. Didn't see what Mitchell was yellow-carded for, but these refs have to let the boys be physical.

By Anonymous, at July 31, 2010 8:55 pm
once you go down to 14 agains a team of the All blacks class you haven't a chance. Fair play to the Australians for getting two great tries after though. Felt the sendng off was harsh but the ref lays own the law like that you can't really complain.

Happy birthday to Muliaina. Absolute legend

By Third Centre, at July 31, 2010 9:01 pm
Drew mitchell's cards were both so harsh. One was warranted to warn him but given the second for the lineout was very borderline. I didnt see the full game but unless the aussies and Mitchell were constantly fouling - very harsh

By BigBucks, at July 31, 2010 10:09 pm
Mitchell was serving his first yellow when Joubert gave the warning.

The person who should have gotten a red card was Rocky Elsom. Shocking captaincy all game, Wallabies lineout restarts were abysmal. Barnes is useless.

Well done the bros

P.S. I'm Aussie

By Anonymous, at July 31, 2010 10:15 pm
agree 110% with t0m0. The Aussie commentators are just beyond the pale; we watch from Canada so I don't care how the game goes. But to listen to the Aussie commentators while watching the match is surreal; its as if you are listening to and watching different games. Rod Kafer was the only objective observer. I wish someone would tell these boys they now have a worldwide audience not just the boys Down Under. Alternatively, let a NZ commentator co- commentate with the Aussie. How about some objective commentary please? I too thought Joubert was great.

By Anonymous, at July 31, 2010 10:29 pm
I don't understand why people here talk about refereing...Mitchell or not Mitchell, it would have chenged nothing. The Blacks outplayed Australia, they were dominant on every impact and accelerated when they wanted. Blacks are on another planet for the moment and there's nothing else to say than "congrats" to the kiwis.

Arnaud from France

By Anonymous, at July 31, 2010 11:47 pm
I thought the calls against the Wallabies were really harsh, but they probably wouldn't have win anyway.

They're definitely not lacking in their desire to attack - two tries with 14 men against the ABs is damned impressive. However they're lacking the influence of Cooper and it showed.

By Jeremy, at August 01, 2010 12:20 am
People on here will say that this game shows how much better the SH is than the NH but my argument would be that neither of those teams will win a World Cup defending like that. The tackling was incredibly bad and a team with good defence would have beaten both of these today.

By Foz, at August 01, 2010 12:34 am
So Foz, there were some missed tackles in a try highlights package........outrageous.

By Simon7, at August 01, 2010 12:44 am
can we get something on the first drew mitchel carding, because even the commentators dont know about it

By HwA, at August 01, 2010 12:44 am
"Alternatively, let a NZ commentator co- commentate with the Aussie. How about some objective commentary please?"

LOL. Yeah you'll get some really unbiased commentary from a kiwi. (Like the kiwi on Channel 7)

You can't blame commentators if they are passionate about their own country's team. Especially if they are former players.

By T.I.A, at August 01, 2010 12:58 am
Foz said:

"....good defence would have beaten both of these today."

You're right, but no one can defend that well against great attack. Especially not anyone from the NH.

By chapwee, at August 01, 2010 1:02 am
I definitely wanted the Wallabies to win - actually, I tend to root for any team against the AB's (it's like with the NY Yankees) - so it was disappointing to see Mitchell go off with a red, but I after a minute, I realized Joubert was spot on to do what he did.

The shoulder charge yellows were ridiculous (so really Mitchell should've only had ONE yellow), but referee's ought to be harsher on killing the ball in such an unsportsmanlike way. As a winger, I get what the idea is, but there is a right way and a wrong way to get rid of a ball after it goes into touch. Slapping it out of someone's hands is definitely the the latter.

And I know referees can't get everything right and a lot of the time the angle is what betrays them, so it sucked that Carter was so clearly offside for the first AB try (when Nonu technically charged the kick down with Carter in front of him, then Carter picked the ball up from an offside position).

Where on earth is Mortlock, by the way? Is he done with international rugby, or what? I just can't see why Berrick Barnes would be playing instead of Mortlock otherwise.

NZ was clearly the tougher team for most of the match, so well done to them. I'm just hoping their form wears off before the WC next year so other teams may actually have a shot of winning!

By Falafel, at August 01, 2010 1:34 am
Thought Brad Thorn was a class act today. Played a stormer and was on the spot to congratulate every try scorer.

@Anon at 10.29pm.
What channel do you watch it on in Canada? LiveTVforever showed it on ASN - so I was stuck with a German commentator! Aussie commentator would have been a dream.

By Old7, at August 01, 2010 1:36 am
This is probably the wrong place to start a discussion like this, but after the game, I was wondering if the rugby card system is all that great.

Should it be the same as soccer and 2 yellows = 1 red, or should there be some discrepancy and a red only be shown if it's two yellows for similar or overly unsportsmanlike penalties?

To clarify, a yellow (in theory at least), gives a 10 minute constant advantage to the other side. The offending player has done something particularly bad, so it's not just a straight penalty advantage, but a little bit more. So why is there a limit on how many times a player should be sin binned?

In ice hockey, can't players get sent to the penalty box multiple times per match without being sent off completely?

I'm not necessarily disagreeing with how things are, though.

By Falafel, at August 01, 2010 1:43 am
Anyone seen what was Mitchell's first yellow card for? It's annoying that the card came out of nowhere and there wasn't a replay of it.

By Jeroz, at August 01, 2010 3:24 am
oh dear oh dear

By Chris Boy, at August 01, 2010 3:39 am
"People on here will say that this game shows how much better the SH is than the NH but my argument would be that neither of those teams will win a World Cup defending like that. The tackling was incredibly bad and a team with good defence would have beaten both of these today."

The Aussie defence was certainly lacking, but victory is based on a desire to win.

If it was France in Australia's position, they would have surrendered.

By Jeremy, at August 01, 2010 4:15 am
Cory Jane is scary good, iv never seen a winger with such a crazy skill-set. This is coming from an Aussie... watching him play was the highlight of last nights game. Brian who?? lol

By THe Boss, at August 01, 2010 5:03 am
NH supporters crack me up, if it was a nh team the defence would have been better. WOT EVER BOY!! ALL BLACKS smoked you, your teams dont know how to tackle our score a try's. in the dirty south we clap when they score a try, English clap when king of the homo's jonny kicks!! AB's gunna slay you fools this autum!! And richie your the man!!

DIRTY SOUTH IN YOUR MOUTH ENGLISH B- ARCH!!

By Anonymous, at August 01, 2010 6:03 am
god... what happened?

By Anonymous, at August 01, 2010 6:24 am
Anonymous little boy 2 above. You are a moron..

By Dan, at August 01, 2010 7:55 am
And what the hell is dirty south?? You're making us look bad you idiot!!

Great game though. All Blacks look unstoppable.

By Dan, at August 01, 2010 7:57 am
yeah i agree, that guy is a idiot. not all nzers are like that at all.
some are gracious in victory.

By Anonymous, at August 01, 2010 8:11 am
its easy for northern hemisphere defences to look good when theyre playing against teams that play at snails pace and kick at every opportunity its a completely different story playin teams like the abs and the wallabies who run at every chance. just look at the last few autumn tours from the all blacks, they went 2 years without having a try scored against them

By Anonymous, at August 01, 2010 8:24 am
Shut the fuck up about the hemispheres already. What a bunch of morons.

By what about the game, you tools?, at August 01, 2010 8:28 am
Dirty South in your mouth?? lol

By Anonymous, at August 01, 2010 11:09 am
Damn those UK refs... oh wait?

By Mr Moany Commentator, at August 01, 2010 11:44 am
doesn't really matter what the first yellow for Mitchell was or how correct/incorrect it was, once he had it, he must know he's on probation...the fact that he was in -> the sin bin when the ref warned Rocky and Richie also matters not. There was the half time talk in the change room that the ref's warning should have been discussed loud and clear. A failure for the Wallaby Cap'n and the coaching staff, or Mitchell is just not smart. Maybe this yo-yo game of his is why he was dropped earlier in the season in the first place?

By Anonymous, at August 01, 2010 12:34 pm
-> the commentators on Foxtel games really grate me. Marto's the absolute worst (as with Qld games too). Kearns is a shocker. At least Clarky qualifies as a commentator -you'd expect SOME bias from a local perspective. I agree, the only one that is not one-eyed is Kafe. Not sure why McArdle doesn't commentate, maybe he'd be too unbiased and anger the TV fans :-O

By Anonymous, at August 01, 2010 12:49 pm
evryone can talk about the NH/SH battle,but action speaks louder than words,and the stats are that NH teams only won 1 game out of 9against the big 3 this summer.also,france and ireland,the NH's top 2 teams,were beaten by around 40 points each

p.s I'm irish

By Leeners93, at August 01, 2010 1:50 pm
evryone can talk about the NH/SH battle,but action speaks louder than words,and the stats are that NH teams only won 1 game out of 9against the big 3 this summer.also,france and ireland,the NH's top 2 teams,were beaten by around 40 points each

p.s I'm irish

By Leeners93, at August 01, 2010 1:50 pm
Oz defence was terrible...

By Anonymous, at August 01, 2010 1:57 pm
Great game to watch, rugby played as it should be, nice attacking attitude from both sides - how many times was the ball kicked from hand (other than a checky grubber through or an attacking kick), none of this aerial ping pong, great attitude and one which us NH team's can learn from.

The All Blacks were so good yesterday I couldnt believe it. Their second try was one of the best tries I've seen in a very long time. The highlights don't show the full extent - the control they had to get into the position where they then struck was awesome.

Australia are certainly getting better and if Cooper was playing it might have been different (he reminds me of Carlos Spencer).

Ref was good though his call on the 'tip' tackle is nonsense. It was a great hit where because of bad positioning he was knocked off his feet - perfect defence. I agree this needs to be sorted by the officials because it will kill the game.

Matt, Glasgow

By Anonymous, at August 01, 2010 2:05 pm
Boring to have to read again and again this silly speech about NH ans SH teams...

There's one team for the moment, NZ.
All the other have smashed ny them. Aussies are from SH? And what? They took almost 50 points like every other team, NH or SH ones would have taken.

Now we can realize that the boks made a quite good performance in the first two games despite the loss.

But, as usual, next year's world cup will be totally different and gap between teams will be reduced.

Arnaud, France

By Anonymous, at August 01, 2010 2:38 pm
"he was unfortunate to be the next offender for slowing the ball down"

Pardon, but is he English?

By Anonymous, at August 01, 2010 4:47 pm
cory jane was amazing, love mils muliana so happy to see him score two tries, happy birthday. funny thing at 4:20 when nonu tries to push beale off rockot man, but kaino pats beale nicely, great guy

By rosh, at August 01, 2010 6:09 pm
mealamu was great always mobile

By rosh, at August 01, 2010 6:21 pm
Very true -- it doesn't get said often enough what a great rugby player Mealamu is. 80+ tests and still has an amazing skill set for a hooker, he's been all over the park this Tri-Nations.

By Anonymous, at August 01, 2010 6:45 pm
Why did that muppet say "before this turns into a NH vs SH debate". No one has mentioned NH in any of the tri-nations games until you did, and now youve started a pointless, stupid debate.

By BigBucks, at August 01, 2010 8:29 pm
i'm looking at a team that is peaking.. it's all to familiar. if the World cup was in any other place i think the AB's would fail to grab the cup, again. but next year, it's in NZ. you're talking about teams coming from all over the world to take them on in their own backyard. Losing is NOT an option. and i'm banking that it won't happen. not in NZ anyway. these guys can do it. all they have to do is adapt to the way the game is being played and they'll be fine. Corey jane has the most wicked fend since Christian Cullen. it's freakish. the Yellow cards shouldn't have been given. it was harsh. ruined the spectacle that was an awesome game. i've said too much. Go the AB's.. all the way.

By simz, at August 01, 2010 11:51 pm
If Drews first yellow wasn't milked by Richie like a soccer player chucking a dive I don't know what a legit cheat is anymore... oh wait it's what Richie does every week! It's retarded! First he did it to the Boks and now he's done it to the Wallabies. Shame on the worlds "top" team... Shame!!!

By Anonymous, at August 02, 2010 1:13 am
Did anyone else think the "backs" for the last try looked hilarious?

By Jeff, at August 02, 2010 2:21 am
WTF is with all the yellow cards?
Have the IRB gone insane?
Why is every big tackle considered a shoulder charge?
Why is the ref's first resort for every ilegal tackle (accidental head high, spears, shoulders - even thought nhey aren't actually shoudler charges) an instant yellow card?
WTF is wrong with these idiots?
Why can;t people make big tackels anymore without getting accused of a shoudler charge and gettign ridiculously soft yellow cards?

By Jono, at August 02, 2010 4:13 am
On the All Blacks website, it says Cory Jane has played only 17 tests, when in fact he has played 18 tests. I wish this to be cleared up as soon as possible because it is misleading.

By Anonymous, at August 02, 2010 6:20 am
Has Richie McCaw scored 17 tries or 18 tries?

By Anonymous, at August 02, 2010 6:21 am
Indeed - enough on the hemisphere debates already...
All Blacks look v.good but as with SA it's all about form and talent clicking at the right time....hope they can maintain this run.

On a seperate note I think it is magic the Argies will be joining this competition. The learning they (as any other national team) will get and the positive benefits for rugby over there will be immesureable....

Very harsh yellows thankfully only marginally undermined a good game. If I was an Oz fan though I think I would spitting with rage regarding the ref although I don't think it would have changed the end result.

By NiWiTa, at August 02, 2010 2:18 pm
I went to the game and boy was it good not to hear the stupid commentaries.I never suspected Cory Jane to be that good. Mostly, I must confess, because of his ridiculous name and haircut... Awesome game by the AB, my second facourite team!

By Gman, at August 03, 2010 2:18 am
@ HenrichK... Sorry but how have the AB's lost form over the last couple of years? 2009 was their only bad year in recent history.

Too many muppets forget rugby history very easily.

By Anonymous, at August 03, 2010 3:47 am
Hey Falafel - re the cards thing (just managed to read your comment) not sure whether you could change the yellow card system to soccer style....

My logic is that there would have to be a focus on red cards being for dangerous play and at the rate the refs/IRB are handing out yellows currently we wouldn't have many players on the pitch :)

I suppose on the other hand though we would get more try-scoring!

By NiWiTa, at August 03, 2010 5:14 pm
Who cares though? The tries wouldn't be as a result of good rugby, they'd just be due to some ref's interpretations.

By Jono, at August 04, 2010 2:35 am
Mitchells first yellow was for a late tackle no arms similar to Owen Franks sin bin.. ref had no choice but give the same punishment (theres a vid on youtube I think its an aussie news channel that shows the late hit). I agree with earlier comments, Elsom should have warned his players about slowing down quick restarts..

As for Carters try, doesn't a charge down put everyone onside?? unless I missed something n the rules have changed

By Anonymous, at August 04, 2010 5:47 am
Really?
Than why did Paddy O'Brien, the head of the IRB reffing panel, say that the first yellow to Mitchell wasn't really even a penalty?
Why did he demote the touch judge responsible for the yellow card if it was correct?
You're wrong, it was the softest yellow card I've ever seen, and if you think that was a shoulder charge you have probably never stepped on a field to play rugby. You'd be soft as butter.

By Bill, at August 05, 2010 12:52 am
the commentators are class ha a thousand on one classic.

By Anonymous, at August 05, 2010 3:30 pm
all blacks are peaking at the wrong time..will not win the world cup next year

By Anonymous, at August 05, 2010 9:26 pm