The Wallabies produced another Houdini display against New Zealand, pulling the Bledisloe Cup out of their hats for the third straight year.
The Australians looked beaten with less than a minute left on the clock, but a penalty at the ruck in the final 15 seconds - successfully kicked by Matthew Burke - sealed a magical 16-14 win and the prized trans-Tasman trophy for the fifth straight year.
In 2000 in Wellington then skipper John Eales slotted a penalty goal, last year in Sydney Toutai Kefu plunged across the line and this year it was Burke`s turn to deal the All Blacks a heartbreaking blow.
The outside centre turned from villain to hero in the space of seven minutes.
He missed a conversion with seven minutes remaining, which would have given Australia the lead.
But all was forgotten when his final kick sailed through the uprights as his teammates leapt upon him in the celebrations.
Burke said missing the conversion made his match-winning penalty kick easier, despite the pressure and the roars of the 79,543-strong crowd at Telstra Stadium.
"The conversion probably made me even more confident," Burke said.
"The first one hit the post and the second one needed just a little bit of minor adjustment."
He said his heart was racing after missing the first kick, but knew that the side still had time to win the match.
As well as securing the Bledisloe Cup, Saturday night`s win ensured the Tri-Nations remained alive, with the Australian match against South Africa on August 17 to decide the series.
Wallaby second rower Nathan Sharpe scored Australia`s only try of the first half, while Burke and five-eighth Andrew Mehrtens traded penalties for an 8-3 halftime lead.
Momentum swung the All Blacks way in the second half as they dominated possession and field position.
Flanker Richard McCall was gifted a try when a lineout throw from Wallaby hooker Jeremy Paul sailed over the Australians into his hands and he scooted the five metres to the line.
Another penalty kick by Mehrtens put the lead out to 14-8 before the Wallabies started to fire.
Mat Rogers, who replaced Chris Latham at fullback, ran off a well-timed George Gregan pass and stepped his way through the defence to score his first Test try with eight minutes left in the game.
"In the context of what is was for and what it was about, it was probably the most important," Rogers said when asked where the try rated in his league and rugby career.
Rogers said the difference between this Australian team and others he had played in was their self-belief.
"It`s the underlying belief and patience that regardless of what they do, it could come in the 80th minute, it could come in the first minute ... we really stick to our game plan to achieve that.
"The sides I`ve played with have had the ability but not the belief."
All Blacks coach John Mitchell tried to look at the positives of another last-minute loss and look ahead to the remaining Tri-Nations games.
"We`re still in a competition that we want to win, we have an opportunity to win this competition and we will gain a lot from this," Mitchell said.
"We have to move on, trophies are the by-product of how you perform and we didn`t perform quite well enough today."
-NB Taken from
http://www.rugby.com.au
Bledisloe Cup remains in Australian hands!
Bledisloe Cup remains in Australian hands! -
08-09-2002, 11:22 PM
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