THE charmed life of Robbie Deans continued in Sydney yesterday when Australia won their fifth game under his charge, beating the team that many New Zealanders believe Deans should now be coaching. This win made it two from two for the Wallabies, it was richly deserved and the margin could easily have been much higher. They are on their way back to respectability and perhaps even to hegemony in world rugby.

New Zealand were once again revealed as a bunch with terrific effort and commitment, and very, very little true world class. All they had was a game of endless passing and movement without reference points, and once Australia had learned how to slow them down in the second half, then New Zealand had absolutely nowhere to go and frankly, their incoherence in some parts of the second half was an embarrassment.

They will also be investigated by the International Rugby Board. Andy Ellis, their scrum-half, was replaced immediately after scoring a try after 44 minutes of the match. Yet around the hour, when Jimmy Cowan, the replacement for Ellis, was injured we saw Ellis come back onto the field. He would only be allowed to return if he had been replaced temporarily for blood and television pictures showed him sitting on the bench receiving no treatment whatsoever, just after he had left the field.

On a happier note, Australia will be absolutely thrilled by the combination of Luke Burgess and Matt Giteau at half-back and the buccaneering of Adam Ashley-Cooper at full-back. They were driven onwards by James Horwill and the remarkable Nathan Sharpe up front. Frankly, while they were often second best for possession, they had far more creative ability and far more footballing sense, than the head-down All Blacks.

Yet again, we had total vindication for the stance of rugby in Europe and in many other parts of the world, in standing out strongly against the grisly experimental laws which grant free-kicks for a raft of offences, and which provide a cheat's charter.

The experiments were meant to remove some of the random elements of refereeing but yesterday we saw the horrendous randomness of it all. Referees are meant to give a tap penalty if they judge that the offence was not deliberate. How on God’s earth are they meant to know? The game was littered with a stream of random penalties at the breakdown, and considering the crooked throwing to the lineout and scrum and the utter shambles of the scrummaging itself, we were also left with precious few areas of contest for possession.

Australia calmed their nerves with two tries in the opening stages at a time when their power in the tackle and their exuberance was at a height. Lote Tuqiri set up the first try with a splendid counterattack and after Sharpe had set up the ball, Giteau moved the ball to the left for Ryan Cross to score.

Giteau had already kicked a penalty and his conversion made it 10-0. Mils Muliaini hit back for the All Blacks after a move which appeared to contain any number of offences but then after more outstanding work by Giteau and Ashley-Cooper, who split the New Zealand defence with a perfect chip ahead, Peter Hynes came over from the opposite wing to chase and score for the Wallabies and approaching half-time, it was 17-5.

Just before the break with New Zealand in urgent need of a score, George Smith of Australia clearly and legally turned over the ball in a tackle, and in possession and on his feet, he had all the rights. He was brought to the ground by a New Zealander lying on the deck and incredibly, the referee, who struggled badly all day, penalised Smith. New Zealand drove on and Andrew Hore, arguably the best All Black, forced his way over after a series of attacks, and so at half-time it was only a manageable 17-12 to Australia.

Soon after that, it was even worse. Again, there was a highly-questionable penalty awarded against Australia. Granted, the Australian front row had been as illegal as ever but at a scrum after 43 minutes, Greg Somerville on the All Black tight-head side clearly did not take the weight as the scrum engaged and yet it was Benn Robinson of Australia who was penalised. New Zealand attacked, Dan Carter made a splendid break, was backed up by Ma’a Nonu and Ellis forced his way over - at that stage, we assumed that this was his last act of the match. Carter’s conversion made it 19-17 to New Zealand.

However, Australia absolutely dominated the final quarter. They resorted to the pick and drive on several occasions to tie in the All Black defence and after a thrilling passage of play in which Tuqiri could easily have scored a brilliant individual try and after Ashley-Cooper had again made a splendid break, it was Rocky Elsom soon bound for Leinster, who made a remarkable finishing burst. Giteau dropped a goal after 66 minutes to take Australia two scores ahead and then the charging Horwill sealed a deeply-satisfying Wallaby win with a powerful charge up the side of the ruck. Australia will need to win away to become credible title contenders, but the resurgence is very much launched.