Jeremy Guscott’s verdict: That great aura of invincibility has left the All Blacks now

It's harsh, but rugby, like life, is all about taking opportunities when they come – and Australia did not do that yesterday against New Zealand. The Wallabies had 70 percent possession and 70 percent territory in Sydney, and they had the advantage of playing against 14 men for 20 minutes, but they did not find a way to win.
Regardless of New Zealand being world champions, Australia could and should have won this Test. Was it down to Kurtley Beale's missed penalty at the end of the first half? Not really. They had other opportunities which were wasted, including a drop-goal chance at the end when the execution from a scrum was poor, and a great try-scoring opportunity for Pat McCabe just after the hour when he was stopped by great tackles from Julian Savea and Ryan Crotty.
Whereas Australia should have won, my feeling was that New Zealand did not play well enough to deserve victory and were fortunate to get a draw. I said last week that I thought the All Black aura is dwindling, and I saw nothing here to change that.
One measure of it is that Richie McCaw gave away quite a few penalties, and again he came off second best to the Aussie captain, Michael Hooper.
On this evidence New Zealand need one hell of a game sometime soon to re-establish themselves as favourites to retain the World Cup. You sense also that this Australian side will not crumble on Saturday when the two teams meet again in Auckland in the same way that England did in the last Test of their summer tour.
The Australian front five showed in this Rugby Championship opener that they are far better than they are given credit for, and New Zealand established no clear superiority in the forwards.
Where New Zealand usually have an advantage is that they get away with a huge amount of laying on the ball, messing with it, or killing it, at the breakdown. Thankfully, they didn't get away with it this time. It's at its most noticeable when they are under pressure in defence, but they got nailed with two yellows for cynical play against the Wallabies – and more referees should follow suit.
If New Zealand kill opposition attacking ball, especially in their own 22, don't warn them, just yellow card them.
It was disappointing that Australia were unable to take the opportunity against 14 men when it was there, but I certainly don't believe it proved that playing Beale at fly-half was the wrong decision. He played reasonably well in the conditions, and it was Australia who played most of the rugby and showed most desire to run the ball.
In the first New Zealand were more clinical and efficient than Australia despite having only 30 percent possession. They seemed rusty after not being together for the couple of months since they played England, and they will have to up their level of intensity on what we saw in the second half if they are to retain their Rugby Championship title.
For a side of New Zealand's calibre it was surprising. Kieran Read was well short of his best, failing to have his usual impact, while McCaw seems to have lost the Yoda mind-trick he had with refs, who don't seem to pay attention to him in the way they used to.
What was also apparent is how much New Zealand rely on turnovers in good, fast conditions to score tries, and that there were far fewer opportunities in the wet.
Australia are definitely a side on the up despite not taking this opportunity. Hooper is a great player, but he is learning his trade as a captain. His decision to kick for the corner and go for a try in the 36th minute rather than kick the penalty was debatable. So was his decision to go for a scrum in the 39th minute, with Ryan Crockett in the sin-bin, rather than kick a penalty from in front of the posts.
He will have learned that brave calls can easily become silly calls, especially after Beale eventually hit the post to miss the penalty chance on the stroke of half-time.
There were no obvious indicators after this draw pointing to whether one side is much better than the other. In a way I would have preferred it if Australia had been more straightforward, kicking to the corners and kicking their penalties, and grinding out a win. In the end, they got the tactical mix wrong.
As for New Zealand, they will get better in Auckland, and the intensity will pick up. However, New Zealand are not invincible, and sides will have their dander up when they play against them.
At this rate the All Blacks will not go another 12 months unbeaten, although you have to fancy them to win at Eden Park, because they are at home on a ground where they very rarely lose.
*This article was first published in The Rugby Paper on August 17.