Australia destroy hapless All Blacks (+pics)

Rugbyheaven

It only seems like five minutes ago that Robbie 'Dingo' Deans left to coach the Wallabies. In fact it's now five tests for five wins with the latest putting a serious dent in the five-year reign of Graham Henry with the All Blacks.

The All Blacks will limp home for the rematch in Auckland next week with the defence of their Tri-Nations title in tatters, their grip on the beloved Bledisloe Cup loosened and plenty of heat going on Henry following this hugely disappointing 34-19 loss

In another match in this series played with a ton of passion, Deans' Wallabies always looked the more likely side despite a brave revival by the All Blacks either side of halftime.

The All Blacks need Richie McCaw back as quickly as possible because for the second match in a row there were comprehensively outplayed in the loose forwards area.

Not even another wonderful individual effort from Dan Carter could get the All Blacks up as their Sydney nightmare continued, losing for the seventh time in 10 tests there.

And they have now suffered successive defeats for the first time since 2004 while Deans, the man New Zealand didn't want, has marched on. The bonus point win has put his side in charge of the Tri-Nations now.

In a night of high drama the Australians weren't happy with the All Blacks switching their halfbacks early in the second half, returning Andy Ellis who had been subbed by Jimmy Cowan to replace an injured Cowan.

The All Blacks were just as unhappy when they were denied what could have been a penalty try after Sitiveni Sivivatu was cut down when he was about to pounce on a ball in the Wallabies' ingoal.

But both coaching staffs would be equally disappointed with their defensive efforts at times.

Woeful tackling led directly to five of the seven tries that were scored on a busy night.

The Wallabies were battling against a heavy possession advantage to the All Blacks though.

The Australians managed to contain the raw power of Ma'a Nonu but they struggled with the slippery running game of Dan Carter.

Mils Muliaina backed up his good personal performance in Dunedin with another energetic display that was rewarded with a try and Siviatu had some dangerous moments as well.

But they were all too few in the end.

Daniel Braid looked to have had a busy return to test rugby but was surprisingly replaced by Sione Lauaki just after halftime. Laukai had a nightmare with five woeful handling errors and he was glaringly absent when James Horwill crashed over for the try to seal the win.

The Wallabies just had too much hustle and bustle about them really. Deans has certainly brought a passion to their performance and they forded the All Blacks into far too many errors.

A dominant scrum wasn't enough to nullify the Aussies.

The All Blacks got off to a dreadful start and took a long, long time to recover but then let it slip away again at the end.

Brad Thorn's chequered disciplinary record continued when he was yellow-carded for a shocking coat-hanger on Matt Giteau when the Wallabies were hot on attack in just the sixth minute. Giteau kicked the simple goal to rub into the wounds of Thorn was binned in the Super 14 final and banned for a match after his tackle on Boks skipper John Smit in the Tri-Nations opener.

Down to 14 men New Zealand quickly got outflanked when Lote Tuqiri broke through three tackles on a counter attack to set up a try for centre Ryan Cross.

When the All Blacks got back on to attack they turned over ball on the Wallabies line and saw Giteau punish them with a 50m touchfinder.

The All Blacks got on the board in the 25th minute when they took a quick tap from a free kick on their own 22. They used an overlap to find space down the right with Muliaina breaking free to kick and regather to take the ball within sight of the line. Somehow he was there again for the secondary ruck to get the ball and crash over.

But the Wallabies struck back just as quick, working a neat move off a scrum on halfway that saw Gitateu make a half break. Ashley-Cooper took that on and kicked deep to have Sivitau scrambling. Tuqiri toed it on and wing Peter Hynes dived on the loose ball.

The All made a crucial strike right on halftime when they earned a free kick on attack in the Australian 22. The ball went wide quickly and hooker Andrew Hore powered on to it to burst past a stream of tacklers on the angle to crash over. Carter's conversion closed the gap to five points at the break.

The All Blacks struck again immediately after the restart with Carter making a sweet break up the middle and from the ruck Andy Ellis dived over. Carter's conversion gave New Zealand the lead for the first time.

Ellis' reward was to be immediately subbed for Cowan, a move that had the managers meeting on the sideline.

The match took a helter-skelter turn then and the All Blacks repulsed two strong attacks from Australia before Rocky Elsom burst through more weak defence to score by the posts.

Cowan was injured the action and somehow Ellis was able to make his way back on.

The All Blacks cried foul when Sivivatu awas dragged down by Cross as he charged at a ball in the Wallabies ingoal but South African referee Craig Joubert ruled otherwise.

Play swayed either way and the Wallabies were clever enough to have Giteau snap a dropped goal to push their lead to 27-19.

When big lock Horwill crashed over from close range soon after that, it was the game gone for New Zealand .

Now the pressure that Henry felt in the leadup to this match will only intensify on home soil in the coming week.

Australia 34: Tries: Ryan Cross, Peter Hynes, Rocky Elsom, James Horwill. Cons: Matt Giteau (4) Pens: Giteau. Drops: Giteau.

New Zealand 19: Tries: Mils Muliaina, Andrew Hore, Andrew Ellis. Cons: Dan Carter (2).