Tri Nations Decider - Tough To Look Past The Class Of The All Blacks
Next weekend the All Blacks will face off against the Wallabies in Brisbane, in the final game of the 2008 Tri Nations campaign.
The game couldn't have more riding it - with the All Blacks sitting only one point ahead on the competition ladder, the winner will be crowned Tri Nations champions.
The Wallabies also need to win to keep their Bledisloe Cup dreams alive - the All Blacks only need to win one of the remaining two Bledisloe games to hold onto the Cup for another year.
It is easily the biggest game of the year for both these two sides.
Australia will also be wanting to put their humiliating 53-8 loss to the Springboks behind them, and a win over the All Blacks would certainly do just that.
But the All Blacks have been very impressive in their last two outings, and have yet another successful Tri Nations campaign in their sights.
Of the three sides, the All Blacks have been the best - and although they have lost two games, they have certainly set the benchmark once again. The way they bounced back from their loss to the Wallabies was near perfect, and then to keep South Africa scoreless - in South Africa - further shows the class of the All Blacks.
And, with 20 minutes to go in the game against Samoa, the All Blacks have already put on 80 points - the most ever scored against Samoa. We'll say it again -
Class.
The Wallabies have had their moments, with their win over the All Blacks the highlight of their campaign. Their two wins against the Springboks were good, without being anything special, and to be fair the way the Boks played in those games - well, anyone could have beaten them.
The problem for the Wallabies has been their consistency. Their wins have been followed up by some heavy defeats, and for a team that has guys like Stirling Mortlock, Matt Giteau and George Smith, they shouldn't be beaten by such large margins.
However, they can still win the Tri Nations with a win in Brisbane, so they must be doing something right.
South Africa have been very disappointing, to say the least. They started off well, going down in a close game to the All Blacks, before beating them at Carisbrook. But other than their last game (the 53-8 win over the Wallabies), they've been terrible.
Their loss in Perth was poor. It seemed like they didn't even want to play - or they were already thinking about going home. Whatever the reason was, their effort was not good enough for 'World Champions'.
And it only got worse - two losses on home soil is almost unacceptable.
Fortunately for them, they bounced back to demolish the Wallabies. But it was too little, too late.
It's amazing to think that not so long ago they were lifting the Webb Ellis trophy...
It's been an interesting Tri Nations, that's for sure. And, it's only fitting that the two best teams in the competition will battle it out for the title next weekend.
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