Atruly weird game of rugby, that. One team abysmal in the first half, the other atrocious in the second.

And, through it all, Australia never enjoyed the rewards they should have had for a dominant scrum. Far from it in fact.

No, instead of winning penalties for forcing All Blacks loosehead Ethan de Groot to flop onto his stomach, the Wallabies were penalised.

I watched the game in a group setting. By the end, most of us were so exasperated by Australia not getting the rub of the green – and infuriated by the All Blacks – that we were wanting to see a Wallaby win.

The good folk shouting into microphones for television wanted us to congratulate New Zealand on retaining the Bledisloe Cup. In truth, the All Blacks’ 31-28 victory felt more like a defeat.

It would be nice to see Australia come out on the right side of the scoreboard this week, but they won’t with the kind of passive defence that punctuated the opening exchanges in Sydney.

Our worst fears about the Wallabies were being realised, as they almost ushered All Blacks towards the tryline. A hundred-point drubbing even looked on the cards.

Credit to Australia for not giving it away. For finally working their way into the match and proving slightly less brittle in defence, because that’s all it takes to compete with the All Blacks.

I don’t know whether the Wallabies were overawed and had, perhaps, convinced themselves that they weren’t sufficiently worthy opponents. But they must surely believe they can now come to Wellington and actually win.

There isn’t anything to fear from this All Blacks side. You just have to hang in there long enough and then watch them implode.

New Zealand, as we’ve seen six times this season now, can’t score in the last 20 minutes of a match. What’s worse, they don’t even seem to have a clue how.

It’s simply – from minute one to 80 – give the ball to Damian McKenzie and hope he can come up with something.

I’ve seen more intricate game plans in Saturday morning kids’ rugby, but here we are.

Lots of hype, tons of coaches and lucrative contacts for one and all, but no-one with any apparent idea of how to win a footy game.

The All Blacks were accidental winners on Saturday. The beneficiaries of initial Australian largesse, who then looked entirely bereft of leadership and ideas from the 30th-minute on.

One or two folk have since asked me if the All Blacks need a captain who shakes their fist in the huddle or eyeballs teammates who make an error.

The truth is captaincy is largely ceremonial now. Lots of decisions get made from the coaching box and the rest are made by the first five-eighth.

It’s the No.10 who runs the game and who is responsible for winning, losing and the accumulation of points.If that person is overwhelmed by the responsibility of that role or struggles to execute the game plan that’s been given him, then the team will struggle.

We saw that in South Africa. We saw the All Blacks compete physically with the Springboks, but be unable to convert winning positions into victories or to kick enough goals.

For as long as head coach Scott Robertson keeps picking the same guy at No.10, he’s going to continue to get the same performances and outcomes.

That’s not picking on one guy. That’s simply stating the importance of the man who dons that jumper in every Test team.

As far as the Wallabies go, don’t kid yourselves that stirring – if ultimately unsuccessful – comebacks count. There’s no prizes for second.

Play with vigour, rush up in defence, make your tackles and just keep the score as close as you can for as long as you can. Keep scrummaging hard. Be strong over the ball.

Most of all, don’t be weak mentally. Don’t take soft options or shovel the ball onto someone in a worse position than you.

That offload or flick pass isn’t daring or enterprising. It’s feeble. Test rugby is hard. The team that loses is inevitably the one who gives up. Don’t be that team.

The All Blacks are beatable and a ruthless team will knock them over in Wellington on Saturday.Be that team instead.