2010 Investec Tri Nations Cup Live
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New Zealand's Adam Thomson is tackled by Australian players in the coursework of his side's Bledisloe Cup victory in Hong Kong Photograph.
A chapter ended and four more began. Closure came with the finish of the 2008 Bledisloe Cup series, won 3-1 by New Zealand thanks to a second-half performance that stood in stark contrast to their tatty first.
The new was provided first by the fixture itself, a trans-Tasman Check shifted to the outer reaches of the South China Sea. Hong Kong now stands not as the hub of the 7s circuit, but as a new trading post on the international scene. Might the Lions warm up here one day on their way to Australia or New Zealand?
The other sense of fresh beginning was created by the sense of stop-off in the tropics for four teams en route to our chilled northern climes. This was an introductory match to a November of the All Blacks and the Wallabies flogging themselves around Europe. There were signs of excellence; there were moments of frailty. There were aspects to worry Europe and elements to give the elderly continent grounds for optimism.
Australia had by far the better of the first half. It wasn't that the configuration of Dan Carter at inside-centre, with Waikato's Stephen Donald at outside-half, looked like an experiment best abandoned right here and now, but also that Matt Giteau on the other side was in sublime form. And Luke Burgess as his scrum-half looks one to mark closely.
The new was provided first by the fixture itself, a trans-Tasman Check shifted to the outer reaches of the South China Sea. Hong Kong now stands not as the hub of the 7s circuit, but as a new trading post on the international scene. Might the Lions warm up here one day on their way to Australia or New Zealand?
The other sense of fresh beginning was created by the sense of stop-off in the tropics for four teams en route to our chilled northern climes. This was an introductory match to a November of the All Blacks and the Wallabies flogging themselves around Europe. There were signs of excellence; there were moments of frailty. There were aspects to worry Europe and elements to give the elderly continent grounds for optimism.
Australia had by far the better of the first half. It wasn't that the configuration of Dan Carter at inside-centre, with Waikato's Stephen Donald at outside-half, looked like an experiment best abandoned right here and now, but also that Matt Giteau on the other side was in sublime form. And Luke Burgess as his scrum-half looks one to mark closely.
As long as Giteau had the ball in hand, Australia looked able to winning. As early as the sixth minute, they was taking on second-row Brad Thorn inbroken play and slipping the sweetest of passes to Drew Mitchell, who scored between the posts. In these early minutes, New Zealand had no shape beyond a vague notion to run the ball from deep. They ran in to nothing but trouble and their skills suffered accordingly. Sitiveni Sivivatu's hands looked fragile, AliWilliams boomed passes in to emptiness, and in general there was a uncharacteristic lack of precision.
They stayed in contact because Giteau could not keep the ball off the floor for the whole half. At the breakdown, Richie McCaw delayed release and the remainder of the forwards attacked the situation with their utterly characteristic aggression. Australia struggled to control the rucks they set up.
And they struggled to scrape the ball back at the scrummage . Every time there was a scrap for the ball on the floor - at the bottom of the breakdown, or the tunnel of the scrum - Australia suddenly looked anything but masters of possession. They gave away penalties, four of them kicked by Carter.
Still, with the ball safely above ground, in their hands, Australia struck again. Ryan Cross made ground in midfield, Mitchell down his touchline, a movement building patiently until suddenly the ball started bouncing around as McCaw tackled the winger and Adam Thomson, on as a blood replacement for Rodney So'oialo, ripped it clear.
In lieu it fell back in to Wallaby hands, in particular - and only for a fraction of a second - in to George Smith's. The wing forward gave and took in half a stride, and Mitchell was over again.
Carter kicked a third penalty, but the threat of an All Black try was summed up by Donald's chip from a scrum in the Australian 22, a set-move that was basically covered and smothered by Burgess.
It was the finish of All Black inadequacy. In the second half, Donald stayed on long to see the scores levelled, Carter combining with Conrad Smith, Isiaia Toeava and at last Sivivatu in a passing movement that had an elegance and swiftness of its own.
And then Carter took over at 10. It didn't instantly lead to total control - Toeava, for example, ran elusively one minute, only in the next to have a kick charged down in his 22 - but Australia's creativity was reduced, to zero.
The winning try came when the All Blacks successfully chased a 22 restart and went all the way downfield. Carter's small grubber was collected by Ma'a Nonu - on for Donald - before Sivivatu floated a long pass out to his unmarked captain.
There was still a chance for Giteau to generate something out of that near-zero, slipping another beauty of a pass out of the tackle to Mitchell. Carter was covering and bundled him in to touch.
When play went the other way, to Peter Hynes on the right, they was tackled and nobody on his side arrived for a lovely four seconds. In the tropics, the Wallabies had come to rest.
So, on they both come, heading our way, the All Blacks on a grand-slam mission around the home unions, Australia hoping to bounce back, first in Padua against France. Both will be better for this ground-breaking game under their belts; both look some way off unbeatable.
