{"id":627395,"date":"2026-10-11T14:36:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T14:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/627395\/"},"modified":"2026-10-11T14:36:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T14:36:15","slug":"bledisloe-cup-2026-wallabies-say-accuracy-and-urgency-keys-to-combatting-all-blacks-aerial-dominance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/627395\/","title":{"rendered":"Bledisloe Cup 2026: Wallabies say accuracy and urgency keys to combatting All Blacks\u2019 aerial dominance"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Iain<\/p>\n

October 11, 2026 \u2014 4:30pm<\/p>\n

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Wallabies pivot Ben Donaldson says kicking accuracy will be a priority ahead of the second Bledisloe Cup clash after Australia lost the crucial battle in the air at Eden Park on Saturday.<\/p>\n

In his third straight start at No.10 \u2013 in a total of six run-on appearances in the key position \u2013 Donaldson turned in a solid performance, having a hand in both of the Wallabies\u2019 tries in the opening half<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But those tries weren\u2019t nearly enough to stay in the contest against New Zealand, who dominated most aspects of the game, and particularly the important contest for the high ball.<\/p>\n

The Wallabies came into the game aiming to repeat the success they had with contestable kicks against the Springboks in Perth, when Max Jorgensen and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii won the ball back and helped build momentum in South Africa\u2019s half, which ultimately lead to plenty of points<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But it was a different story in Auckland, with New Zealand gaining the upper hand in the air using the same tactic. Having won the \u201cregained possession\u201d battle 8-3 against the Boks, the All Blacks flipped the script and outpointed the Wallabies in that stat 8-3.<\/p>\n

Like them or loathe them, contestable kicks are now a staple of any Test team\u2019s game plan, after World Rugby banned defenders from running interference<\/a> for catchers in late 2024.<\/p>\n

All Blacks coach Dave Rennie said post-game that stats show receiving teams now only successfully catch 25 per cent of box kicks sent their way.<\/p>\n

\"Joseph-AukusoJoseph-Aukuso Suaalii takes a high kick successfully. It was a rare feat for the Wallabies at Eden Park.Getty Images<\/p>\n

Like other Test teams, the Wallabies tried using a retreating winger to take the catch, instead of the fullback coming forward, but they were hesitant and muddled with the timings. And under the pinpoint box kicks of All Blacks halfback Cam Roigard, the Kiwis made hay by either catching the kick or cleaning up the deflected ball. There were even times when the Wallabies allowed the ball to bounce due to poor communication.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought Cam\u2019s kicking was excellent and allowed us to put a lot of pressure on \u2013 we kicked a bit more off nine than we had been,\u201d Rennie said. \u201cAs you know, receiving or retrieving those kicks are difficult \u2013 I think teams are catching one out of four that are receiving teams \u2013 so that\u2019s the nature of the game at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Compounding the problem was the fact Australia\u2019s high kicking was also ineffective, and mostly too deep to be genuinely contestable.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe and Lonners [halfback Ryan Lonergan] were just having a chat in there [the dressing room], against the Boks our kicking game we thought was quite good,\u201d Donaldson said post-game.<\/p>\n

\"CamCam Roigard\u2019s kicking game was a key factor in the All Blacks\u2019 win.Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then today, you know, might be 10 per cent off, but that adds up in the end. We\u2019ll get another crack next week, which is the great thing about rugby.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wallabies coach Les Kiss said a lack of defensive urgency to get back onside after the kick also put pressure on Australia, and they cracked in the second half.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were certainly a lot more accurate than our kicks when we put them up, that\u2019s for sure,\u201d Kiss said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it was just in this position where you\u2019re trying to go back or forward to catch the ball, and they had the momentum on it each time. It\u2019s not just the winning of the ball, it\u2019s what happens after that, and I thought a couple of times they were just on the front foot, and we didn\u2019t match that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BenBen Donaldson lays on a try for Harry Wilson in the first half.Getty Images<\/p>\n

Wallabies captain Harry Wilson was one of the few bright spots at Eden Park, along with a strong defensive lineout. Donaldson\u2019s effort was also encouraging, given No.10 has been such a problematic position. The Force playmaker showed confidence with the boot, and tellingly set up Wilson\u2019s try by taking the ball to the defensive line.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am obviously growing in confidence each week,\u201d he said. \u201cThe more you play, the more you\u2019re learning out there. I haven\u2019t started a whole lot in this gold jersey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Ryan<\/a><\/p>\n

Given how often the Wallabies No.10 jumper swaps hands, Donaldson said he tries not to let the precarious nature of the job stop him playing his natural game.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou never know how many opportunities you\u2019re going to get,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd you don\u2019t want to mess up that opportunity that you do get. But if you\u2019re thinking about messing it up or failing or whatever, you\u2019re probably already gone.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust swing the bat, as they say. Try things. Try to play free. Les has given me full licence just to play from wherever \u2013 kick, run, pass. There were some good patches, but for myself and the team, far from our best. It comes down to our skill set in the end. And we\u2019ll be looking to nail that this week.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Close\"IainIain Payten<\/a> is a senior sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"October 11, 2026 \u2014 4:30pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":627396,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-627395","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627395","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627396"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}