ABs riding high after Wallabies win

Don’t mention the rollercoaster. Right now All Blacks coach Ian Foster is just happy to bathe in the contentment of a third straight victory and an emphatic response that gives his team a real shot at an eighth Rugby Championship title.

Foster was delighted with last night’s 40-14 bonus-point victory over the Wallabies, which left the Springboks needing to collect a bonus point victory over Argentina in Durban overnight, and win by 39 points or more, to prevent the 4-2 All Blacks (19pts) claiming an eighth Rugby Championship in 10 years.

Asked after a match his team led 17-0 at halftime, and 32-0 a quarter of an hour into the second spell, what it would mean to wrap up another championship given the ‘‘rollercoaster’’ nature of a year where they lost twice at home to Ireland, once to Argentina in Christchurch and also in South Africa, he bristled a little before opening up somewhat.

‘‘I’ve forgotten about the rollercoaster,’’ he said. ‘‘I’m just happy in the moment. We’ve come into a championship, we’ve had in our mind the hardest draw by having both tests against South Africa in South Africa, got one out of two in that space, we’ve let ourselves down in Christchurch, but our response to that has been really positive.

‘‘We look at the last half of the championship and we’re really pleased with what went in. All we can do is deal with what’s in front of us right now. I know we’ve got a buffer (against the Boks) – whether it’s enough I don’t know. But we’ve given ourselves a chance and that’s all we want.’’

Asked that, given where he and his team had been in July on the back of the historic series defeat to the Irish, whether there was satisfaction over progress, the coach nodded in the affirmative.

‘‘All you can do, in the circumstances you get dealt, is try and find a way out of it and I think we’ve owned very clearly that we

put ourselves in a situation,’’ said Foster. ‘‘But I back the group we’ve got to get through an issue.

‘‘I said at the time we’re going through stuff that none of us had really gone through in an All Blacks jersey and it was hard. We just had to own it and we had to be the people who came up with the solutions.

‘‘We’ve done some good problem-solving. We’ve worked hard, and it’s given this team a little bit of steel and it’s given us some harsh lessons we kind of wish we didn’t have to deal with, but we did. In those situations you either fold and walk away because it’s too hard, or you buckle up and get stuck into work.

‘‘The work of the players has been phenomenal, and we’re growing belief. But we’ve still got some steps to go.’’

Foster praised the ‘‘attack, the strength, and the set piece’’ last night, and, eventually, admitted to delight at how Jordie Barrett had performed in his first test start at No 12.

‘‘I was delighted with David Havili’s growth this campaign, and I’m delighted with what Jordie gave us today. I thought he had a phenomenal game today. He was very physical, with the ball and without the ball, he worked hard, and he got some kicks in. He should be very proud of that effort.’’

Foster, who confirmed Will Jordan’s ankle injury was not thought to be serious, said he would be arising at 4am to check out the Boks-Pumas game. And maybe he would have had even more to celebrate in those wee small hours.

The big moment

Sam Whitelock’s miraculous handling, or fortune, to dot down under the posts right after the break crushed the Wallabies. The big lock benefited from referee Brace saying the try was good when he went to his TMO.

Match rating: 6/10

As a contest, it was slowly but surely one-way traffic for the All Blacks. There were, however, too many tedious stoppages.

The big picture

The All Blacks will know if the Rugby Championship title is theirs after South Africa v Argentina in the early hours of this morning. The Springboks needed an enormous victory to overhaul the All Blacks.

MVP

Jordie Barrett had a decent night at No 12. Whitelock and Retallick were back to their bludgeoning best. Will Jordan was dangerous whenever he touched the ball and lit up the match with his try.