The Wallabies only have themselves to blame

There were some strange twists and turns in this match and it's hard to imagine that this would have been the All Black's highest score against the Wallabies had Daniel Carter kicked the final conversion.

Going into this game there were genuine hopes that the home side might be able to end the visitors 7 game winning streak against them but all that came to a screaming halt at about the same time the Wallabies failed to find touch from a penalty just after Owen Franks was yellow carded.

The Wallabies inability to capitalise or take advantage of certain situations is severely lacking. It was only 1 kick but it needed to find touch. The fact that it didn’t, let the All Blacks off the hook, and was perhaps a turning point in the match.

Another example was when Drew Mitchell scored off a charge down only to have the same thing happen at the other end moments later. The few times that they were in a position to capitalise an unforced error would release the pressure.

Poor old Rocky Elsom. He couldn't win a trick. First he complains to the referee that the All Blacks were slowing the ball down only to have it backfire when Drew Mitchell was red carded for doing exactly that. He inadvertently got his own man sent off!

There were also some puzzling decisions throughout the match. Had the officials managed to get Sam Whitelock’s number he would have been yellow carded for a highly effective and perfectly legal tackle. Seriously, the referees are just getting a bit to eager to hand out yellow cards.

Another questionable decision was when the All Blacks were penalised for collapsing the scrum 5 metres out from their own line when it was clear the ground gave way underneath them. How was it their fault?

Although neither coach complained, the surface wasn't really good enough and questions have to be asked about it's playing future.

The other questionable decision was to play Matt Giteau at ten considering how well he has played all year at 12. What was Robbie Deans thinking? James O'Connor looks lost on the wing and is much better suited to fullback. They could do worse than give Kurtley Beale a start next week and perhaps give someone like Lachie Turner a run on the wing.

Lighten up guys!

A patchy performance from the Wallabies but at least their defence was reasonable. The 1 positive is that they have only had 2 tries scored against them in 4 tests this year, which given the amount the amount of injuries they have had, is a fair effort. If the Wallabies could get their full strength side on the field they might be a chance.

They were dull in the first 1/2 half and were guilty of kicking too much ball away. They had plenty of opportunity to counter attack (a hallmark of a Dean’s coached Crusaders) but too often, chose to kick.

The Wallabies have a talented backline but it’s being wasted, because apart from from Quade Cooper and perhaps James O’Connor, they are not backing themselves. They are too hesitant, lack confidence and it results in players dropping passes, knocking on etc.

At least Kurtley Beale provided some spark when he came on but is lacking confidence also, hence his grubber kick instead of backing himself. Still early days though and given his time again, I'm sure he would have kept ball in hand.

You get the feeling that the players don’t have the backing of their coach at times and are too scared to express themselves in case they make a mistake.

The mood in the camp was highlighted by the post match press conference. Watching it reminded me of a visit to the morgue. What’s wrong with these guys? Again, nothing upbeat, nothing positive and it looked like they were slowly but surely being dissected. Defibrillator anyone?