The All Blacks were handed a rugby lesson on the weekend, being completely outclassed and outplayed by the Wallabies. As an All Blacks supporter, it really made for some shocking viewing, but full credit to the Wallabies and they way they played.

Right from the start of the match, something didn’t quite sit right, and it became very apparent that the All Blacks were in for one long day at the office. Even before kick off; did anyone else think the sight of Brad Thorn performing the Haka wasn’t quite right?

Australia came at the All Blacks with the sort of ferocity that would normally be associated with someone like South Africa. They were very physical and aggressive in both attack and defence, which caught the All Blacks a little off guard and may have even intimidated them somewhat in a manner that someone like a Morne du Plessis, or more recently, an AJ Venter, would. This tactic clearly rattled the ABs and they had no answer.

These early exchanges set the tone for the evening, but surely not even the most hardcore Wallaby supporter would have predicted such domination. The score of 34-19 flatters the All Blacks, who looked like they had no alternative game plan or strategy, a la numerous other tests when the opposition has put them under constant pressure.

They lacked any leadership out there; at no stage did stand-in captain Rodney So’oialo or any of the other senior players bring the team together to try and get them up, or to discuss tactics etc. Not that was captured on camera anyway. Even the most criticised of All Black captains, Reuben Thorne, had the right traits in terms of leadership to know to do this! Someone like Thorne would have been invaluable last night.

This, along with the annihilation of the All Blacks at the breakdown area, emphasises just how much Richie McCaw was missed. More significantly though, this raised again an issue that perhaps all of us as All Blacks supporters know, but are reluctant to acknowledge: just how much we rely on Richie McCaw to help us win. Dan Carter is in that category too, but at the moment he is fit, so let’s focus on McCaw for now. As a player, McCaw is arguably the best player in the world – definitely the best in his position – and when he decides to retire, chances are he will be considered by many to be in the elite pantheon of players to have ever graced the game. As a rugby nation, we have taken McCaw for granted, and it is only now, with him being injured, that our lack of depth is being exposed. And importantly, the world class players that have seemingly been produced at a whim in the past are no longer there. Apart from Woodcock, Williams, Carter and Muliaina, would any of the other All Blacks playing this match be considered world class?

In my lifetime, I cannot recall an All Blacks team that has relied so much on two players. Carter again last night was clearly heads and shoulders above any of the other All Blacks, but the thing that hit me the most while watching the game was exactly how much the ABs lose without McCaw in the team. Not just in terms of his ability as an openside flanker, but also the leadership qualities he brings to the team. His leadership has been criticised in the past, most notably during last year’s World Cup, be clearly he has learnt from such experiences as this, and he is starting to fulfil that leadership potential that the whole rugby world knows he possesses. Leadership is a trait that cannot be taught, and unfortunately for the ABs, without McCaw there, they are sorely lacking in this department.

However, the lack of leadership was not the sole reason for the loss. As briefly touched on earlier, the Wallabies completely dominated the breakdown area. Not only did they bring a new level of physicality to it, but constantly threatened the All Blacks’ possession of the ball. They competed at most breakdowns, and turned over a lot of ball in this area. And if they were not able to achieve this, they managed to slow it down, depriving the All Blacks of quick, clean ball. There may be questions about the legality of this, but they were not penalised so good on them. Daniel Braid was quite simply not up to the same standard as the likes of George Smith and Rocky Elsom. With the Blues not reaching the S14 playoffs, and then through an injury, Braid has not played any top level rugby in awhile now, and it showed. He is still the number two openside in the country and should be given another shot this coming weekend if McCaw is not fit.

Just off the ruck, the Australians were very quick out of the line and in the AB’s faces almost as they received the ball. TV commentator Ian Smith questioned whether the defence, especially Nathan Sharpe, was onside numerous times throughout the match, but again, as long as you’re not pulled up by the referee then you might as well carry on doing so. So far this season, Andy Ellis has been criticised for his slow passing from the floor. He greatly improved on Saturday, probably putting in his best performance of the season, but because the Australian defenders one and two out from the ruck were so quick, Ellis’ improvement was largely negated.

In the forwards, the set pieces were quite evenly contested. The much criticised Wallaby scrum did not roll over against the much vaunted All Blacks scrum, even though the ABs scrummaged well again, and the lineouts were their usual selves, with some dodgy throwing and lost lineouts which have seem to become a given. Andrew Hore had a strong game all round. Was effective in the set pieces, and prominent in the loose including a good try cutting back against the defence. Tony Woodcock also had a strong running game, but questions must be asked of Greg Somerville’s ball handling and general skills outside of the scrum. Ali Williams had the right idea in wanting to kick the ball a couple of times, but this should really be left to those who are trained to do this. This raises the issue of having someone else in the backline with an adept kicking game.

The Australians showed just how effective a good kicking game can be. Giteau and Barnes controlled this facet of the game beautifully, and ensured that Australia played most of the match inside opposition territory despite the ABs having the majority of possession. And to think that a full strength Wallaby team would have probably also had the kicking games of Mortlock and Huxley to call upon too. The ABs, however, have Carter, and perhaps also Muliaina who does not possess a strong kicking game but can do an adequate job. Unfortunately with the overseas defections of the likes of McAlister and Mauger, options are very slim. Stephen Donald has been sitting on the bench the whole season, but the selectors probably don’t want to thrust him into the midfield against such a strong opposition, and quite rightly so. This area is suddenly a huge problem.

Elsewhere in the backline, Muliaina again played well, and apart from Carter was the most threatening of the backs throughout the match. Sivivatu had a fantastic first half, but really has to take some of the blame for Hynes’ try. If he had attacked the ball, like Jimmy Cowan did to save another try, he may have prevented the try, but instead attacked Tuqiri, allowing him to toe the ball through for Hynes to swoop upon. Cowan off the bench looked very good when he was on. In my opinion, he is our best halfback (forget his off field indiscretions, he’s a fantastic halfback) and should be starting, and began to prove so before he injured himself during the aforementioned play. A cruel blow! Kahui and Tuitavake where nowhere, especially the latter. The ball did not come his way very much, but he needs to go looking for work, like he does so effectively for the Blues. He was very slow when required to turn around in defence too, and the Wallabies kicked behind him numerous times to exploit this.

Apart from injuries, I don’t think too many wholesale changes need to be made, except for getting rid of Sione Lauaki. He has been given plenty of opportunities at this level, and has been too inconsistent. I cannot think of a worse game that anybody has played in the black jersey. He is a liability and the sooner he is dropped the better. If Conrad Smith doesn’t start, then he should not be on the bench either, as he is not an impact player and there is plenty of cover for centre in the starting XV with Nonu, Tuitavake and Muliaina all very capable of filling in there. Hopefully MacDonald has recovered from his injury to take a place on the bench. I think Tuitavake should be retained, but the coaches need to give him a roaming licence because he can be very potent on attack.

A thought to finish off with: are we now beginning to see exactly what effect the ‘player drain’ is having on the national team? Players such as McAlister, Mauger, Thorne and Howlett would have been priceless (along with a host of others), and there is perhaps a huge gap now between our best players and the level immediately below. This will be rectified in time as players gain experience (the talent is definitely there), but for now, the exodus is starting to hurt.