The All Blacks have left the Wallabies heartbroken by scoring a try with three seconds remaining in the Bledisloe Cup. A Colin Slade conversion confirmed a historic victory for the Kiwis.
Israel Folau on the charge for the Wallabies. Source: Getty Images
COURAGE and heroism replaced turmoil and coach-killing adversity as symbols for the Wallabies on Saturday night but they were still left heartbroken when a stirring upset was stolen from them at the death by the All Blacks.
The devastated faces that dotted Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium when All Black Colin Slade slotted an angle conversion after full-time to crush the Aussies 29-28 said even more than the numbing scoreline.
Gallant leader Michael Hooper was dumbstruck. Israel Folau, another yet to beat the All Blacks, looked to the heavens but there was no prayer to turn back the dream-killing try of All Blacks centre Malaki Fekitoa.
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This was a night where you could not crucify the Wallabies for squandering a 25-15 lead entering the final 20 minutes.
Wallabies winger Adam Ashley-Cooper celebrates scoring a try during his 100th Test. Source: News Corp Australia
Flanker Hooper had demanded character and 100 per cent desperation. He got epic doses of both in a pulsating Bledisloe Cup thriller but the three year drought without a victory over the All Blacks continues.
Centre Tevita Kuridrani, prop James Slipper and centurion Adam Ashley-Cooper were titans in a massive team effort to win back respect on the field after all the upheaval off it with the Kurtley Beale drama.
The golden punchline was ripped from them after the Wallabies had the match in their hands for all but three seconds from the end when Fekitoa crossed.
The Wallabies still had their crucial brain fades when replacement halfback Nic White gave away possession with a late kick and Bernard Foley's earlier kick-pass to gift away possession when he had runners outside.
The All Blacks play beyond 80 minutes and this will add to their legend as similar deeds in Dublin last year to beat Ireland.
Nick Phipps scores for the Wallabies against the All Blacks. Source: Getty Images
Besieged coach Ewen McKenzie had said on match eve: "Moments come along in your life and as a team. It doesn't matter what the adversity is it is how you stand up to it and I know this team has the character to do that."
The Wallabies did with the best showing of the six losses he has now steered against the All Blacks.
The Wallabies forced the All Blacks to miss more tackles than they normally do in two Tests with smarter tactics.
Israel Folau is gutted after the Wallabies lost to the All Blacks. Source: News Corp Australia
Centurion Adam Ashley-Cooper gained all the momentum to his career from his try-scoring feat at the MCG in 2007 when he delivered the Wallabies a rousing 20-15 upset over the Kiwis.
To still be scoring pivotal tries against the All Blacks in his 100th Test is the mark of Ashley-Cooper's consistent class because David Campese (nine) is now the only player in history to have scored more than the eight of last night's milestone man.
It was a beauty too. So often the Wallabies have been sleepwalkers after half-time but they hit the second half as if they'd guzzled cans of Red Bull.
They ruthlessly converted a turnover into a 22-12 lead with prop James Slipper's pop pass to Israel Folau splitting the Kiwi defence. Former Wallabies coach Eddie Jones had expertly pinpointed inside centre Malakai Fekitoa as a poor reader in defence and Wallabies opposite Christian Lealiifano burnt him beautifully with an inside step at the 10-minute mark.
That the Wallabies were so clinical in turning their first real chance into a 7-0 jump was exactly how they had to grab them. Lealiifano, in his first Test in 11 months, linked with Israel Folau and the ball-control, that besieged coach Ewen McKenzie demanded, followed.
That impressive halfback Nick Phipps finished it with cheeky opportunism at the ruckbase one metre out was thoroughly deserved.
How dangerous the All Blacks always are for a sudden strike-back cruelled the Aussies from the kick-off when they regained the ball and winger Cory Jane was equalising in a blink.
Malakai Fekitoa of the All Blacks celebrates with team mates after scoring the winning try. Source: News Corp Australia
When hooker Dane Coles scooted through some disorganised defence to give the All Blacks the lead 12-10 six minutes from half-time it challenged the Wallabies to show how much they truly wanted this Test.
After all the effort and all their possession they were still behind. What followed in the 10 minutes to follow was the embodiment of what skipper Michael Hooper had passionately demanded on Test eve...show the crowd, show the All Blacks, show the world how much we care about our jersey no matter what the turmoil.
The desperate scrambling in defence, the runs into the teeth of the tackling by centre Tevita Kuridrani, the Wallabies biggest improver of 2014, and the exocet charges of prop James Slipper were booming evidence of that.
It was Kuridrani bullocking an extra few metres that produced a stirring strikeback 95 seconds from half-time.
Phipps' slick flat pass created a half metre more room for backrowers Scott Higginbotham and Michael Hooper to set up the tryline ruck from which Bernard Foley gleefully used as a shield to plant the ball in the corner. Ashley-Cooper's try ignited the crowd of 45,186 who finally sensed a monumental upset was in the offing.
ALL BLACKS 29 (Dane Coles, Malakai Fekitoa, Cory Jane, Aaron Smith tries Beauden Barrett 2, Colin Slade cons Barrett pen) bt WALLABIES 28 (Adam Ashley-Cooper, Bernard Foley, Nick Phipps tries Foley 2 cons Foley 2, Nic White pens) at Suncorp Stadium. Referee: Craig Joubert. Crowd: 45,186.
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