Australia 26 New Zealand 24:AUSTRALIA HERO James O'Connor insisted his last-gasp conversion was "just like every other kick" after the winger pulled his side back from the brink of defeat to edge out New Zealand 26-24 at Hong Kong Stadium on Saturday.
Trailing by five points when the final hooter was sounded, the Wallabies were staring at an 11th consecutive loss to their bitter rivals but they kept the ball alive and O’Connor crashed over the line from close in to level the Bledisloe Cup encounter.
And with victory resting on the last kick of the game, O’Connor stepped up to nervelessly slot the conversion through the posts and also end the All Blacks 15-game unbeaten run.
“To be honest, I’ve tried to put myself in that situation a lot in training,” he said.
“Robbie (Deans, coach) has said plenty of times ‘this is the last kick to win the game’ and I think that’s the only one I’ve hit, so I’m pretty happy about it.”
Deans had no doubt O’Connor – a surprise inclusion in the squad when Australia faced New Zealand in Hong Kong two years ago – would kick them to victory.
“To be honest, I was actually very confident,” he said. “James is one of those blokes who wants the ball in those moments, as you saw with his carry. It’s what you want, it’s a great indicator.”
It provided a dramatic end to an entertaining game that swung back and forth throughout. Australia established an early 12-0 lead before New Zealand found their stride to stretch out a 12-point advantage with 20 minutes to go before the Wallabies’ late rally snatched victory.
“That’s the nature of rugby,” added Deans. “What we got was a good response in the last 20 minutes, which is an area that we’ve been battling with and we made some progress tonight, so that was great.
“The boys persevered, there were occasions there where they could’ve dropped their heads but credit to Rocky and the decision makers for their relentlessness.”
New Zealand captain Richie McCaw felt too many individual errors ultimately cost his side.
“We were under pressure, we had a chance to clear our line and we didn’t do that, we gave them the ball back in a good attacking position,” he said.
“The guys were trying pretty hard, scrambling on defence and I guess it sometimes comes down to one turnover or not and they got the try at the end, which was pretty disappointing.
“A few of us made mistakes out there that in Test rugby, you can’t really afford to make because that can sometimes be the difference.”
Coach Graham Henry was full of praise for the Australians, who bounced back from the crushing 23-22 defeat in Sydney last month to turn the tables on their rivals.
“The Wallabies played particularly well, that was the end of the game and they scored to win,” he said.
“We’ve been through those situations a bit this year and finished up on the positive side of the ledger. They kept the ball and we gave away a few penalties at that time, which made it more difficult for us, and didn’t finish up with a positive result because of the continuity of position.”
AUSTRALIA: Beale; O’Connor, Ashley-Cooper, Giteau, Mitchell; Cooper, Genia; Robinson, Moore, Alexander, Chisholm, Sharpe, Elsom, Pocock, McCalman. Replacements: Barnes for Giteau (64), Burgess for Genia (77), Slipper for Robinson (52), S Faingaa for Moore (62), Mumm for Chisholm (73). Not used: Brown, Turner.
NEW ZEALAND: Muliaina; Jane, Smith, Nonu, Rokocoko; Carter, Cowan; Woodcock, Mealamu, O Franks, Thorn, Donnelly, Kaino, McCaw, Read. Replacements: Toeava for Jane (52), Donald for Carter (60), Mathewson for Cowan (73), Afoa for Franks (60), Whitelock for Donnelly (66). Not used: Elliot, Braid.
Attendance: 40,000
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland).
