Wallabies suffer Bledisloe heartbreak
22/08/09 10:45 PM
Australia will spend another year without the Bledisloe Cup after New Zealand took out tonight's Test in Sydney 19-18 courtesy of a 79th-minute Dan Carter penalty goal.

Holding a slender two-point lead with just minutes remaining, the Wallabies were denied a win in the cruellest of circumstances when Carter stepped up to slot a penalty deep in Australian territory to snatch the win and celebrate his return to the national side in the best possible fashion.

With just seconds remaining, the Wallabies had one last chance close to the New Zealand line but came unstuck when the ball was knocked on by flanker Rocky Elsom.

Forced to play the entire second half without Berrick Barnes after the centre succumbed to concussion, the Wallabies defended stoutly after the break and went within a clean pair of hands of securing the win.

In the end a mix-up at the back handed New Zealand a penalty 10 metres out after Wallabies winger Lachie Turner failed to release the ball.

Carter, playing his first Test this year after being sidelined with anAchilles injury, stepped up and made no mistake with his kick.

Wallabies skipper George Smith, deputising for the injured Stirling Mortlock, said the result was hard to take.

"It's never easy losing," he told Channel Seven after the match.

"We were just starved of possession in the second half.

"There were some positive aspects in the first half but in the second we didn't have too much ball so we couldn't do too much with it.

"Whenever we got the chance, we kicked the ball away. We got ourselves in good position down here [in the final minute] but we didn't take our opportunity."

Nonu dives over

New Zealand came from 12-3 down at half-time, scoring the only try of the match through substitute centre Ma'a Nonu in the 64th minute to claim a brave win and continue its dominance over the Australians.

The result, New Zealand's 11th win in the last 13 Bledisloe clashes, keeps the All Blacks' Tri-Nations hopes alive while simultaneously killing Australia's, with the Wallabies now winless after three matches.

It also extends Australia's Bledisloe drought to seven years, and will once again raise questions over the lack of results under coach Robbie Deans despite the side adopting a more attractive style of play.

The fact is the new, more expansive game plan failed to yield a single try, with Matt Giteau scoring all of Australia's points with a perfect six from six penalty goals, while Carter slotted four penalties and a conversion for the Kiwis.

The pair traded penalties in the opening six minutes, but Australia slowly got on top as the half wore on and Giteau was able to capitalise with three more strikes before the break.

The visitors constantly threatened to blow the game open both out wide and up the middle in the first half, but a series of handling errors and poor options prevented them from posting more points.

Apart from the loss of Barnes in the second half, the home side played with 14 men for 10 minutes after number eight Richard Brown was sin-binned for a dangerous tackle.

The Wallabies managed to maintain pace with the All Blacks in Brown's absence, the two sides sharing a penalty goal apiece until Nonu's try with 15 minutes remaining.New Zealand: 19 (M Nonu try; D Carter 4/5 penalties, 1/1 conversion)Australia: 18 (M Giteau 6/6 penalties)

Source: ABC