Sunday, November 2, 2008

Test Rugby: New Zealand 19, Australia 14

New Zealand retained the Bledisloe Cup in the unlikely environment of a warm, humid, wet night in Hong Kong. The New Zealanders made more mistakes in this match than they did in all previous tests this year. Australia pounced on their opportunities to lead 14-6 at one stage before the Kiwis mounted their predicted comeback.

The All Blacks started slowly and had to play catch up rugby for much of the first half. In the second half they applied the pressure and eventually the Aussies cracked.

Comments from Graham Henry, All Black coach.
"The guys won ugly. They got better as the game went on. They played much better in the second-half than the first but it was a typical All Black-Wallaby Test match - hard as hell - and our guys showed enough guts to get through it and win."

Australia move on to Italy from Hong Kong where they play a test against Italy next Saturday. The New Zealanders move to Murrayfield where they play Scotland.

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