AUSTRALIA 19, NEW ZEALAND 32
Dan Carter warmed-up for his shoot-out with Stephen Jones at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday by kicking 22 points in the All Blacks’ seventh straight win over the Wallabies in Tokyo.Â
The New Zealand outside half was immaculate from start to finish as he hoisted his personal tally of points against the Aussies through the 200 mark as he fired over six penalties and converted both his side’s tries in a 32-19 triumph. His 100 per cent kicking record will have reminded Ryan Jones’ Welsh side they cannot afford to make any errors in their own half on Saturday or they can expect to be punished severely.
Carter, who is averaging 18 points per game against Wales, steered his side to safety with 14 second half points after they had been forced to go into the break 16-13 adrift after Peter Hynes had been given a controversial try moments before half-time.Â
The Wallabies wing was met by a wall of three All Blacks defenders as he dived for the right corner moments after his opposite number Sitiveni Sivivatu has been sent to the sin-bin.Â
South African referee Mark Lawrence initially consulted the video ref, but then ended minutes of speculation by awarding the try. Matt Giteau converted off the touchline and the Wallabies had edged their noses in front.Â
But no sooner had Sivivatu been restored two minutes after the re-start than the All Blacks conjured up a try for centre Conrad Smith in the 47th minute and the Wallabies were on the back foot.Â
Carter did the rest as he added four more penalties and the Wallabies will head for their Grand Slam tour of the UK and Ireland with only one win in their last seven Tests. They meet Wales on 28 November.Â
“Australia came right at us from the start and we sat back a little. We have to expect that Wales will do the same in front of their home crowd, so we have to have more of an edge,” said McCaw.Â
“We will have to make a better start against Wales than we made here. We didn’t have enough field position in the first half either and there were a couple of opportunities we failed to take, so there is plenty of things to work on before next weekend.Â
“They’re a good team but, if we get those things right, we’ll be able to put them under some pressure. This was a great way to start our tour, although we know we’ve got some tough Tests coming up.Â
“This win will be good for our confidence and it was certainly good to get a game under our belts before going to Europe. A few of the boys hadn’t played for some time so we will be better for this game.”
Scorers: Australia: Try: P Hynes; Con: M Giteau; Pens: Giteau (4).
New Zealand: Tries: S Sivivatu, C Smith; Cons: D Carter (2); Pens: Carter (6).
