Aussies pip All Blacks with late penalty
Wallaby lock Nathan Sharpe and reserve fullback Mat Rogers scored tries for Australia while flanker Richard McCaw scored New Zealand’s only try in the second half.
Burke had missed a conversion in the 72nd minute which would have given Australia the lead but redeemed himself under enormous pressure before a packed house of 79,543 at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium.
“We’re obviously very proud of the fact that we hung in there and turned it around,” Australia’s captain George Gregan said.
It was the third successive year world champions Australia had scored a last-minute victory over their Trans-Tasman rivals.
Captain John Eales kicked a penalty goal on full time in Wellington for a 24-23 win in 2000 and number eight Toutai Kefu crossed for a late try as the Wallabies triumphed 29-26 in Sydney last year.
Australia retained the Bledisloe Cup on Saturday which they had won back from the All Blacks in 1998.
The Bledisloe Cup was tied one-all after New Zealand won 12-6 in Christchurch on July 13.
Both teams are tied on 10 points in the Tri-nations and will play in South Africa in the next two weeks to complete the series.
Australia had an 8-3 lead at half time after a try in the 17th minute by Sharpe following an inside ball from fly-half Stephen Larkham.
Burke added a penalty before fly-half Andrew Mehrtens opened the scoring for the All Blacks with a penalty goal just before the break.
Mehrtens scored his second penalty shortly after half time before McCaw swung the match in New Zealand’s favour after seizing on a poor lineout throw by Wallaby hooker Jeremy Paul in the 48th minute.
The All Blacks went further ahead to take a 14-8 advantage when Mehrtens kicked his third penalty in the 63rd minute.
Rogers stepped between two defenders in the 72nd minute to score Australia’s second try of the match but Burke again missed the conversion as the All Blacks clung to their 14-13 lead.
Australia hooker Jeremy Paul had crossed in the 32nd minute from a Wallaby scrum near the line but referee Andre Watson disallowed the try after ruling that prop Patricio Noriega had infringed.
“All the guys are very upset about losing. It’s heart-breaking to lose in the last few seconds,” skipper Reuben Thorne said of Burke’s penalty goal on full time.
But New Zealand coach John Mitchell saw it as a chance to go forward as a team.
“It’s a mere hiccup in our journey and we’re still in a competition (the Tri-nations) that we can win. We’re going to gain a lot from this game,” Mitchell said.
“That (the Bledisloe Cup) is past us now. We’ve just got to move on.”
“Firstly I think we need to congratulate Australia on winning. We had opportunities to obviously win the match,” Mitchell said.
Assistant coach Robbie Deans admitted the All Blacks, who had opted against selecting giant winger Jonah Lomu, had lacked try-scoring punch despite dominating the first 25 minutes of the second half.
“Possibly we were a wee (little) bit one dimensional,” Deans said of the All Blacks, whose only try to Richard McCaw came from a Wallaby lineout error.
Burke, who had failed to convert tries by Nathan Sharpe and Mat Rogers, said he knew he would be a hero if he kicked the goal on full time and a villain if he missed.
He admitted he felt the game may have been lost with his missed conversion trailing 14-13 late in the match.
“We got the penalty in the end but there was a good focus in that last 20 minutes of just hanging onto the ball,” Burke said.
Rogers, a former rugby league international who helped swing the game after replacing fullback Chris Latham in the 62nd minute, felt the world champion Wallabies had the mental toughness required to make a good side a great side.
He said of Burke: “The guy is a freak. It was just too easy for him and it was just great to see.”
Wallaby coach Eddie Jones said: “They (New Zealand) probably dominated at least the first 25 minutes of the second half.”
He added: “They’re definitely a side on the ascendancy. This has got nothing to do with the (2003) World Cup. It’s a one-off game.”
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