Sir John Kirwan believes that the Wallabies have a \u201cbig problem\u201d which was the key difference between them and the All Blacks in the first Bledisloe Cup clash.<\/p>\n
After a hard-fought first half between New Zealand and Australia, which saw the two teams head into the sheds level at 14-apiece, the All Blacks dominated the second half, romping to a 50-19 victory at Eden Park.<\/p>\n
Dave Rennie selected a more experienced bench for the clash in Auckland, with Shannon Frizell and Rieko Ioane bolstering the cap tally while the Wallabies named a vastly inexperienced eight among the replacements.<\/p>\n
The Wallabies\u2019 problem<\/p>\n
The experience and quality off the bench was the major difference in the first Bledisloe Cup Test, according to Kirwan<\/a>, who added that it\u2019s a major problem for the Wallabies while the All Blacks<\/a>\u2018 depth has been given a shot in the arm with Frizell\u2019s return and Scott Barrett being fit again.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone has been asking me since I\u2019ve been home about what I thought of South Africa and New Zealand. How I sum it up is I think the South African side is like we were from 2011 to 2015, really mature, lots of players,\u201d he said on the Rugby Rivals podcast.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the nicest things for the All Blacks on the weekend was obviously getting that win, which was important, but all of a sudden we\u2019ve got Scott Barrett back, Tupou Vaa\u2019i had another really good game, Frizell is coming back into the side, and we\u2019ve got Fabian Holland who was a little bit injured last weekend. So all of a sudden we are starting to get the depth.<\/p>\n \u201cThe biggest problem for Australia<\/a>: I thought they did some great things on attack in the first half, but I just don\u2019t know if they\u2019ve got depth in the squad. Especially on their bench, whereas I thought our bench came on the weekend and continued to raise the level, which is what South Africa does when their bench comes on. Australia\u2019s bench is probably not as good as they probably need it to be.\u201d<\/p>\n The All Blacks produced a far better performance under the high ball against Australia, a facet of the game that troubled New Zealand during Rugby\u2019s Greatest Rivalry series. It was also where many felt that the Wallabies could put Rennie\u2019s team under pressure.<\/p>\n All Blacks: Kieran Read bemoans omission of \u2018world-class player\u2019 while Justin Marshall is \u2018baffled\u2019 by make-up of bench<\/a><\/p>\n Jeff Wilson \u2018singles out\u2019 one All Blacks star after \u2018breakout performance\u2019 in Bledisloe Cup success<\/a><\/p>\n The All Blacks\u2019 aerial game<\/p>\n However, that was not the case with the All Blacks managing to get the upper hand in the aerial game and much of that stemmed from the Wallabies\u2019 errors, Kirwan believes. He added that Rennie\u2019s side also kicked more smartly against Australia, mostly through scrum-half Cam Roigard.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were dominating [the air], and so we had the scrums because of their mistakes, and we were kicking, whereas in South Africa it was the other way around,\u201d he added<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cReceiving that high ball is really hard. Attacking it is a lot easier. I think New Zealand improved on both sides of that, but I just think when you\u2019re dominating a wee bit with possession like we were, it\u2019s a lot easier for that kick.<\/p>\n