All Blacks crush Australia with second-half blitz to retain Bledisloe Cup
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Oct 10 : Australia’s hopes of wresting back the Bledisloe Cup for the first time in a generation were crushed in familiar fashion in a comprehensive 50-19 loss to New Zealand at Auckland’s Eden Park on Saturday.
The Wallabies were in touch at 17-14 down at halftime but the All Blacks scored five tries after the break to ensure they will retain the symbol of trans-Tasman Sea supremacy for a 24th straight year ahead of next week’s second test in Sydney.
Tries from Peter Lakai, Tupou Vaa’i, Cam Roigard, skipper Codie Taylor, Leroy Carter, Josh Moorby and Will Jordan combined with 15 points from the boot of flyhalf Damian McKenzie got the All Blacks back to winning ways after three straight losses to South Africa.
“We were hurting a little bit after the (South Africa series), but it’s awesome to come home, play in front of our fans, our people. We’ve missed it, and to get a result like that, it’s hugely proud of the boys,” said Taylor, whose try helped New Zealand extend their unbeaten run at Eden Park to 54 matches since 1994.
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“This is home for us … You see ex-All Blacks standing on the sidelines. You want to do it for those men, the people that have been before you, and you just want to continue the legacy.”
Australia, who came into the game unbeaten in six matches and looking for a first win at Eden Park since 1986, scored first-half tries through fullback Tom Wright and captain Harry Wilson and earned a late consolation score from hooker Josh Nasser.
“Playing them here, it’s always going to be tough and we did a really good job to be in the fight after that first half,” said Wilson.
“We fought back really well and then we had an opportunity at the start of the second half and we blew it, and then it was tough to get the ball back for the next 30 minutes.”
The Wallabies, buoyed by a win over world champions South Africa last month, dominated the opening exchanges and got their reward in the eighth minute when fullback Wright cleverly straightened up an attacking move to score the opening try.
The aerial battle was always going to be a key factor and New Zealand were enjoying the better of it with Jordie Barrett winning one duel and feeding McKenzie, who scythed through the defence before feeding flanker Lakai to level up the scores.
The All Blacks were also getting a width in the attack that was causing Australia problems and the home side cashed in to take a 14-7 lead in the 16th minute, when Vaa’i barrelled low and hard through the defence at the end of a multi-phase attack.
Ryan Lonergan missed a kickable penalty for Australia in the 24th minute, but McKenzie made no mistake from closer range nine minutes later to extend the lead to 10 points.
The five minutes before halftime is traditionally a fruitful stage of the game for New Zealand, but it was Australia who scored three minutes before the break, with Ben Donaldson scooting through a gap in the defence and finding Wilson in support.
Australia again came firing out of the blocks in the second half but New Zealand earned the first points after 50 minutes when scrumhalf Roigard darted over the line off the back of a rolling maul to extend their lead to 24-14.
The All Blacks were now relentless in attack and hooker Taylor, captaining the side for the second time, scored their fourth try five minutes later.
The Wallabies were now struggling to hold onto the ball and wingers Carter, Moorby and Jordan capitalised on the remorseless pressure from the All Blacks in the last quarter to put the game well beyond the visitors.
Source: Reuters
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