Australia coach John Connolly was not getting too carried away with the Wallabies’ stirring 20-15 victory over New Zealand in Melbourne on Saturday night, but he did enjoy it.
Having not beaten the All Blacks in their previous five appearances and not held the Bledisloe Cup since 2002, Connolly could have every reason for being overjoyed at the Wallabies 20-15 win at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
But with one Bledisloe Cup match remaining against the Kiwis, a Tri-Nations clash in Sydney against the Springboks looming on July 7, and the World Cup commencing in September, Connolly was trying not to get too far ahead of himself.
"It’s a great night for Australian rugby tonight," Connolly said.
"But we are under no illusions. It is a one off, we are delighted with it, but we have got two big games coming up over the coming weeks."
Trailing 6-15 at half-time after the Kiwis had dominated the first half, Connolly was particularly delighted with the way his team performed in the second half, as they ran in two tries and kept the All Blacks scoreless.
"We didn’t play very well in the first half. We scrambled to keep ourselves in the game," Connolly said.
"We had a good chat about it at half-time.
"We got a bit of momentum in that second half. We got some good ball from the forwards which allowed our backs to get on the front foot."
He continued: "It is an important win for us. We went close a couple of times last year, but we just weren’t good enough."
