Australia………………………………………………. 28pts
Tries: McReight 18, Faessler 36, Paisami 65, Wright 79
Conversions: Lolesio 19, 37, 66, 79
New Zealand………………………………………… 31pts
Tries: Jordan 2, Ioane 9, Clarke 15, Savea 25
Conversions: McKenzie 3, 10, 16, 26
Penalties: McKenzie 45
NEW Zealand kept their grip on their Bledisloe Cup but had to endure an encouraging Australian comeback from 21-0 down to suggest the future may not be as bleak as it seemed two weeks ago for Joe Schmidt‘s Wallabies.
Cheap turnover ball in the opening quarter was Australia’s Achilles heel with the All Blacks‘ potent finishers scoring four tries with another thrashing for Schmidt’s side on the cards following their humbling last time out in Argentina.
Australia rallied with a score from Fraser McReight before half-time and a Jordie Barrett penalty aside, it was one-way traffic for the hosts in the second period with New Zealand relieved to hear the full-time whistle after nearly capitulating with two late yellow cards.
All Blacks captain Scott Barrett said: “I’m relieved. In the last 15 minutes we found ourselves in a bit of a hole but we hung on with some scramble defence. The game was typical of the Aussies, they don’t lie down and showed how desperate they are to get a hand on the Bledisloe Cup.
“We were wounded coming back from South Africa but the players trained really well this week. There was plenty of energy and we started well and showed what we are capable of.”
New Zealand coach Scott Robertson said: “We found a way to win, I’m really pleased,” he said. “We’re getting good experience by winning these tight games. The Wallabies showed a lot of grit, it just shows that any Aussie team you play, they just won’t go away.”
TEAMS
AUSTRALIA: Wright 7, Kellaway 5, Ikitau 6, Paisami 6, Koroibete 5 (Pietsch 64, 7.5), Lolesio 5, White 6 (McDermott 62, 8); Bell 6 (Slipper 50-71, 6), Faessler 7 (Paenga-Amosa 53, 8), Tupou 5 (Alaalatoa 45, 7), Frost 5 (Salakaia-Loto 56, 7), Williams 7, Valetini 7 (Gleeson 68, 7), McReight 8.5, Wilson (c) 6
NEW ZEALAND: Jordan 8, Reece 7 (Plummer 77), Ioane 7, J Barrett 6 (Lienert-Brown 41, 6), Clarke 6, Mckenzie 7, Ratima 8 (Perenara 58, 6); de Groot 5 (Williams 41, 6), Taylor 8 (Aumua 62, 5), Lomax 7 (Tosi 71), S Barrett 7, Vaa’i 7 (Darry 66, 5), Sititi 8, Cane 6 (Jacobson 64, 6), Savea 7
REFEREE: Karl Dickson (Eng)
ATTENDANCE: 68,061
Star player
Fraser McReight – Australia
The All Blacks flew out of the blocks early with Will Jordan making the most of his late switch to full-back after Beauden Barrett’s withdrawal by finding a pocket of space and showing his acceleration to score in just the second minute.
The visitors did not let up as they looked to double down on their fast start finding plenty of space down the left side to set up Rieko Ioane for another try in the ninth minute.
Unfortunately for the Wallabies two tries became three in the first 15 minutes as Caleb Clarke barged his way through two defenders to cross the whitewash for yet another converted try. However, this time the hosts responded with a brilliant set move off a line-out that had McReight in space to touch down after a series of lovely passes.
It would always be difficult to keep the All Blacks out again who got rewarded for their defensive pressure as Sevu Reece picked a loose ball to play in Ardie Savea who ran in under the sticks for a converted score becoming the highest try-scoring forward in All Blacks history in the process.
The hosts would have the final say of the first half as hooker Matt Faessler timed his breakaway from a maul to perfection and Noah Lolesio kicked a difficult conversion to keep the Wallabies in the contest.
New Zealand started the second period with some good pressure leading to a penalty for Damian McKenzie in the 45th minute taking the All Blacks crucially out Paisami with 15 minutes to go.
Anton Lienert-Brown was yellow carded for repeated All Black infringements next to their try line and soon after Clarke joined him on the naughty step for a deliberate knock on.
The Wallabies continof the two-converted try difference.
The contest tightened up as the Wallabies grew into the game leading to a lull in scoring with the All Blacks scoring two disallowed tries before the hosts eventually crashed over for a converted try from Hunter ued to push with their numerical advantage and finally got their reward with a 79th-minute converted try from full-back Tom Wright, again converted by Lolesio, to take them within three points of the All Blacks but it was not to be.
In the end, a suspiciously upright tackle from Savea and TJ Perenara brought the turnover that allowed the All Blacks to escape. The teams reconvene in Wellington next weekend and the Wallabies, having endured a nightmarish first quarter that will have stirred memories of their 67-27 shellacking in Argentina, can feel hopeful.
Wallabies winger Tom Wright said: “We gave ourselves the opportunities in the first half but we just gifted too many to New Zealand.
“They have an aura about them and they punish you when you are not good enough. We wanted to put on a performance for the home crowd in Sydney. That sort of effort has been in our game throughout our matches this year but just not consistent enough.”
Australia captain Harry Wilson said: “We’re gutted to not get the result. Giving a 21-0 head start to the All Blacks was always going to make it tough for us, but I am super proud of the effort and the way we fought back. We just didn’t want to give up and played for each other.”
