Imagine how good O’Connor could have been if he didn’t lose his way with injuries and his off-field stuff! Had everything needed to be one of the greats for sure. Also never understood his obsession of being in a playmaker role he was far more dangerous on the wings.
I was on an overnight Qantas flight from Auckland to Los Angeles and next morning, the captain came on the intercom and announced that Australia had beaten the All Blacks in Hong Kong. A New Zealand passenger was heard to mutter that if the All Blacks had won we would never have heard about it.
In 1978 I was on a flight from Gisborne to Auckland and the all blacks were playing the ozzies in the third and final test of that series, the all blacks had won the first two tests but in the third test the ozzies bounced back and whipped the all blacks 30-16, well the pilot on that flight was an ozzie and he kept relaying the score over the telecom and chuckling about it, even though our team lost it is a great memory, on that day the ozzies were on fire and too hot to handle and Greg Cornelson scored 4 tries that day which is still a record for most tries scored against the all blacks
@@JonnyDredd How well we remember that game. Good thing the Wallabies saved their best for last, or the Bledisloe Cup might have been taking a plane ride.
1:21:22 What a shot by the cameraman! The prodigy aims the shot to win with his apprehensive teammates in the lower background and jubilant wallaby fans in the upper background.
I wish the holy trinity of Cooper, O'connor and Beale had the chance to play together for many more years, i feel like aussie rugby would be in a much stronger place if they could've stuck together. Also, kinda cool to think about how Brad Thron played against O'connor and how he's his head coach at the Reds.
This Australian team reminds me of the cliche' of past French teams, in that they have both amazing talent and serious flaws and you never know how it's going to end.
This team could have been something else. I want to see this sort of talent come out of Australia again. The Wallabies should be doing everything they can to get their hands on Ponga
@@geokomalo2790 that's what I heard. Should offer him a big salary to try get him to play he's got amazing talent and it's sad to see Australian talent like that go
Nz born talent in the wallabies? Not good history!!!! Quade, O'Connor, Dean Mumm, lealiifano, Jordan uelese, curtis Rona and the list can go on. You know Ponga has no desire to be a wallaby. He hasn't even mentioned it let alone though about it. You seriously think he's gonna tarnish his name and career by becoming a wallaby. He maybe a kangaroo and I admire it because il be honest, (being a kiwi) whether the kiwis beat the kangaroos once, twice or three times in a row, the kangaroos will always be the team to beat because in history, they are the best and that's what ponga wants, to be the best and play with and for the best and when it comes to union, let's face it, even though we didn't win the rwc 2019, people deep down know that we are the best! Clear example Brad Thorne! Harp on about this one all you want, they still walked away without the Bledisloe and a year later in the rwc 2011 semi final, we wiped them out. All this game does is confirm to the world, that Quade is a dick and that the constant booing by nz crowds was and always will be justified!
RockyXLeo you talking nonsense mate the All blacks are NOT the best team nowadays just face it, the boks are , and on the other side Ponga was born in Port Hedland Western Australia he does have kiwi parents but he is Australian .
This Wallabies back-line was the only back-line, at that time, that could rival the All-Blacks' back-line for sheer talent. Shame they weren't consistent, and our forwards sucked. But if Robbie Deans did one thing right it was out backs.
Jeeze I forgot how fast Beale was and how about the hold up over the line of Mealamu. Such a great game and players who were probably under appreciated at the time like Ben Robinson, Barnes, Big Dog, and Chapman. Was the bad old days for Wallabies scrums though. The scrum is about the only part of our game now that isn't dog sh!t.
@@nicholashastings2882 surely the Irish and Welsh are the worst. Its their bundits and commentators that made me dislike them so much. Bigging them up against the southern big boys
Even in the world cup final he hit the winning penalty like a dog and I still struggle to believe he nailed it. Took off like a seagull with one wing and seemed set to go anywhere but over.
I was teaching English in Zhuhai when this game came to HK...went over on the ferry with 3 kiwis, 3 poms and me the only aussie.....got totally wasted during the day and just remember the elation when jimmy put over the last kick to win the game at the post...un..fkn..real......i remember then giving it heaps to the kiwis after the game and they refused to travel back to zhuhai with me and left me to my devices whilst in a drunken. obnoxious but ecstatic state......but all ended well and i swam in the glory for the following weeks
My mama always said "life with Stephen Rex Donald at 10 is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get". With under five minutes to go he missed a "gimme" penalty kick from 25 metres that would have sealed the win for NZ, then in the final minute badly missed with a touch finder which led to the Aussies' crucial seven-pointer. Can't begrudge the Aussies the win, they played damned well, but one question: When Donald missed touch it was under advantage for a knock on. Was that useless punt truly advantage enough or should it have been brought back for a scrum?
This game cost alot of hate towards Donald but he redeemed himself when NZ had no one to kick so they called him back and his kick won the game RWC 2011..
That's right. If he either nailed the penalty kick or booted the ball out at the 79th minute we would have won. Looking back on it shows how warped our thinking had become, we were used to Carter getting everything right.
D-day for aussie what game,, but they didn't keep them players together and coaches team believe on team can win and upsetting in last minute,,, off who wanted the most like what ABs did few year's later,,,, 👍👍as for this game wallabies wanted most playing to their fullest🍻🍻👍✌️
I would like to enter the brain of quade cooper to understand what happens there at times, it's not just the fact that he is the worst defender in union rugby history, it's the crazy errors he makes in attack, many of them not caused by him attempting to do something brilliant, but just unforced stupid errors that costed Australia many games
What a team Australia could have had at the last world cup. Surely you have to call this a lost generation. Only begs the question: why did they never make good on the potential of all these players? Have to say I think it has abolutely nothing to do with the players.
One reason can definetly be found in this video. The constant nagging whinging and complaining of the Australian commentating team. It's actually so frustrating to listen to. No positivity, trust or leniency for an incredibly young team. Yet they still have their job today. And will probably whinge and criticise the next Australian players generation to pieces.
@@Nexustonothing i don't think thats a reason why these players didn't fulfil their potential, but i agree that the commentators are appauling. They are the only Australian commentators that are incredibly bias, but i think when they play New Zealand everyone is like that - one mistake and it could cost you. If they lost it would've been because of all those inaccurate kicks.
@@edmcangel3025 No neither do I really think it's the reason it's more a symptom. But it's really funny and I think enlightning to analyse the commentary. At the begninning one of them points out how Carter has more test points than the entire Australian starting team combined. So it appears they are aware of the team's inexperience. They then proceed to pile criticism on these incredibly young players and when Australia wins partially due to a missed kick by Donald one of them says: "Bring on the world cup!" As if the Australian team, whose inexperience was briefly noted, subsequently ignored and criticised all game was then entirely forgotten to proceed to the insane expectation of them to win a world cup. It's nuts. Australians seem to expect more of their rugby union players than their politicians, it sometimes seems. If I was one of them, I would have gone to France or England or wherever as soon as possible. Alternatively I would have probably developed mental health issues, crumbled under the pressure, drunk my sellf stupid after another failed Bledisloe and then gone to France or England or wherever only to find out I might actually be a good player and human being deserving some respect after all. In the meantime I wonder whether player psychology, player long term development and not putting young adults under undue pressure are terms that will ever enter the fray.
@@Nexustonothing i agree with the pressure thing, particularly on O'connor when he was at the Rebels. He was the best player and everyone looked to him and he was early 20's! Not everyone can do that so early! I think the Rugby union commentators in Australia are useless
The commentators are the worst the world has seen lol Dead quiet when nz are winning and winging at everything, then high as a kite when aus are winning 😂😂😂
Bloody loved that send-off! True Aussie spirit. McCaw was a giant cheat at the breakdown and countless offsides in defence so many times. Refs rarely pinged him for it because he was an AB
This is why top tier international test rugby should *NEVER* be played in Hong Kong again - if it wasn't for the smattering of ex-pats that made up the crowd, this test would probably only have been played in front of the respective teams' reserves and coaching staff. A great game ruined by a disgracefully poor turnout.
Agreed. With the exception of Japan, rugby in Asia sucks. For a start it's too bloody hot and humid usually, and the locals have zero interest in the sport. Just the IRFU trying to line their pockets as usual.
30 seconds in and nz give up a deliberate penalty to kill wallaby momentum right under the refs nose as if macaw effort wasn't obvious enough, this crap ruins the game.
