Talking Points | infonews.co.nz New Zealand News

As Wallabies coach Robbie Deans struggled to explain how his Tri Nations champions had been so comprehensively outplayed on Sunday night, he suggested that several All Blacks had benefited from the pain of previous Rugby World Cup defeats. "What the All Blacks have is a group who have suffered on many occasions," he said after the match. "The core of their group, the nucleus of their group, this is their third attempt and they've got that burning desire, that fire in the belly for that reason. And they've also got that mental resilience. We don't have that as yet, to the same extent." By this reckoning, the New Zealanders had fed off their personal memories of unexpected defeats in 2003 and 2007, and this had been a key element in their performance on Sunday. But of the starting XV that faced Australia, only Richie McCaw and Tony Woodcock were playing when the All Blacks crashed out of RWC 2007 with a 20-18 defeat by France at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, on October 6, while replacements Ali Williams and Andrew Hore had also featured. Earlier that same day four years ago, another upset occurred when England beat the highly-fancied Australia 12-10 in Marseille. A similarly traumatic experience for the Wallabies, one might think, especially considering the result was a repeat of the two sides' nail-biting final in Sydney four years earlier. Marseille mauling Were there any survivors of the Marseille mauling in the Australia team at Eden Park? Well quite a few, actually: Adam Ashley-Cooper, Rocky Elsom, Dan Vickerman, Stephen Moore and replacement Berrick Barnes. So there were five Wallabies with the chance to bury their ghosts of RWC 2007, as opposed to four All Blacks. Deans is correct to suggest the New Zealand side had exclusive rights to eight-year-old hurts. As well as McCaw and Williams, Sunday night's hooker Keven Mealamu also played in the All Blacks side knocked out by Australia 22-10 in the RWC 2003 semi-final, while Brad Thorn came off the bench. Not one of the Wallabies who lost to England in the final a week later appeared on Sunday night. However, if Deans had wanted to harness that simmering resentment over unfulfilled promise, perhaps he should not have overlooked second row Nathan Sharpe in favour of Rob Simmons at Eden Park. Sharpe, who will play his 100th Test for Australia against Wales in Friday's battle for third place, played in the 2003 final and the Marseille defeat four years later and is the only Wallaby who perhaps could have mimicked McCaw's "fire in the belly" of two failed RWC campaigns. Innocent fledglings So Deans' reasoning may not bear too much scrutiny. And the common depiction of his Wallabies as mere innocent fledglings who can only improve from their experience may also be found wanting. "I'd love to see this group one day - and there's no doubt there will be a significant number of them who will get another opportunity - win a World Cup," said the coach. That may be so, but Australia would be unwise to write off the All Blacks as old warriors about to go on the wane. The average age of the Wallabies starting XV on Sunday was 26.5 years. The average age of the All Blacks was 28 years. Hardly a yawning gap. There were telling contributions from the younger All Blacks, including Aaron Cruden, 22, and 23-year-olds Israel Dagg, Owen Franks and Sam Whitelock. All Black number 8 Kieran Read, 25, is younger than Wallaby wing Digby Ioane, 26. It seems that banking on the passage of time or an accumulation of bitter memories will not be enough if the Wallabies are to turn the tables on the All Blacks any time soon.