In this top of the table clash the All Blacks were seeking revenge for their Round 1 loss to the undefeated home side.
The second half was the highlight of this closely fought match, with controversial player coach Dean Widders making his appearance.
Shane Nolan thought he was in to score just after halftime. A brilliant dummy from Peni Roqica broke the Randwick defensive line and the forward surged for the line only to be held up.
Moments later, with only 20 minutes to play, Randwick took the lead for the first time in the match, with a try under the posts.
An error from Kieran Vale allowed Randwick to take the upper hand. They made use of a 2v2 situation as the defence was drawn in and the free winger scored Randwick’s third try of the day and led 20-14.
Back-to-back penalties from a frustrated All Blacks side were preventing any signs of a comeback. After a number of high tackles, the referee lost patience and sin-binned Dean Widders after a scuffle with the Randwick forward.
The match started to get heated. Poor tackles from the Randwick defence gave the centre his marching orders which evened out the playing field and, with 13 minutes to go, the All Blacks had a chance to level the score.
After Dean Widders returned to the pitch, an unconverted try by Nolan almost leveled the match, with the All Blacks two points behind with three minutes to play.
The final attack of the game for the All Blacks ended in disappointment. But it was a match that did not fail to live up to the high expectations. The All Blacks now sit four points behind the competition leaders.
Widders was still positive despite his side’s tough loss. “We were good today and especially the toughness and energy. The boys kept trying and the spirit was good, but we just lacked a bit of leadership. I let them down getting sin-binned and it wasn’t a good thing. We will get better, we know we can get better; we were below our best today.”
Notable performances and match stats:
Most Hit-Ups: Steven Winters (13)
Most Tackles: Shane Nolan (24)
Completions: 19/27 (70 per cent)
