New Zealand thrashed Australia 5-43 to open the 2020 Tri-Nations Rugby Championship, while retaining the Bledisloe Cup for the 18th year running at a drenched ANZ Stadium, Sydney.
The All Blacks scored six tries to one to claim the Bledisloe Cup and kick-start their 2020 Tri-Nations campaign with a record 38-point victory on Aussie soil.
It was a Halloween horror show for Australia as the ghosts of defeats past came back to haunt the home team.
This is a chastening defeat for the young, inexperienced Wallabies. It is the biggest winning margin for the All Blacks over Australia, and the fourth defeat of 20 or more points at ANZ Stadium.
Richie Mo’unga was magnificent. The first-five grabbed a brace, set up Jordie Barrett’s late score, and kicked 13 points from the tee for a match haul of 23 points after another sublime display at first receiver.
Karl Tu’inukuafe, Dane Coles, and Rieko Ioane also crossed for the Kiwis as the Aussies wilted in the wet.
New Zealand had this match won and the Bledisloe Cup sowed up before halftime.
They scored four tries by the half-hour mark to seal the game while shutting out the Wallabies in the first stanza, and retain the famous old cup before the interval.
Caleb Clarke and Coles both had tries chalked off after TMO reviews or this could have been a humiliating loss.
Noah Lolesio scored a second-half debut try to put his side on the board. Mo’unga added a penalty to make it 5-29 going into the final quarter.
But the dam wall broke in the final 10 minutes when Ioane and Barrett scored in quick succession to seal the deal and open New Zealand’s Tri-Nations account.
Australia begin badly as New Zealand run away with the game before halftime
The game started in the worse possible way for the Wallabies.
Filipo Daugunu received a yellow card in the third minute for a dangerous tackle on Clarke, after taking the winger out in the air.
Daugunu had a nightmare, he could do nothing right until winning a 56th-minute penalty at the ruck.
On top of his yellow card – that led to a converted try – his handling was poor, knocking on and throwing the ball into touch.
He kicked poorly too, and some poor footwork almost led to Mo’unga claiming a hat-trick before the break.
New Zealand – as they always do – capitalised with a converted Tu’inukuafe maiden Test try two minutes later.
Jordie Barrett soon joined Daugunu on the naughty step for an elbow to the face of Nic White.
The Wallabies handling let them down, and their kicking game was poor, gifting the Kiwis cheap possession to counter-attack.
Dave Rennie’s men could ill-afford to give away the ball because the All Blacks enjoyed 81% territory and 78% possession inside the first quarter.
On 11 minutes, the All blacks went 11 phases before Mo’unga’s accurate banana crossfield kick found Coles.
The hooker beat White to the ball. The Kiwi referee Ben O’Keeffe awarded the try but Aussie TMO Angus Gardner wanted to double-check.
After several checks, the score is chalked off – a good call by Gardner. Clarke thought he had a try, he too was denied by the TMO.
Marika Koroibete’s last-ditch tackle on Clarke, with help from Michael Hooper, denied the winger the try.
Australia was reeling as New Zealand increased the tempo, making their hosts pay for their mistakes
By now, the Wallabies porous defense started to open up. On 22 minutes, the visitors crossed for their second.
Aaron Smith and Mo’unga combined with a switch-play to the blindside from the scrum. The 26-year-old standoff drifted towards hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa, ghosted through him, and raced away from Lolesio to score in the corner.
Mo’unga could not convert; however, he soon had another meat pie, scoring five minutes later.
The flyhalf latched onto Beauden Barrett’s deft chip-kick, beat Koroibete’s weak tackle, and cruised 60 metres in for the try. This time he converted to open up a 19-point lead.
Coles finally got his try after a powerful rolling maul from the forwards. The hooker’s try effectively ended the game as a contest.
Wallabies score after restart but game descends into a mess as the conditions began to influence proceedings
Australia came out of the shed and scored within two minutes after the restart when Lolesio scored his debut Test try from close range to make it 5-26.
White put the standoff away following a barnstorming run from Jordan Petaia, who ran over Mo’unga, sucked in two tacklers before setting up the try.
The game started to break up quickly after the interval with both teams regularly making unforced errors.
Australia had made nine handling mistakes and New Zealand six inside an hour. Wet, slippery conditions did not help, though.
Sam Whitelock milked a penalty before the hour, and Mo’unga knocked over the kick.
New Zealand finished with a flourish
The mistakes kept coming from Rennie’s men; with a chance to set up an attacking lineout, Lolesio kicked the ball out over the in-goal.
New Zealand, as they always do, scored twice at the death.
Ioane scored his 23rd Test try in the corner after Hoskins Sotutu broke off the back of the scrum to the short-side, drew the defenders, and sent the winger away.
A couple of minutes later, Mo’unga sent Barrett away.
Barrett’s try is his third Bledisloe Cup score on the trot. Mo’unga’s deft pass to the winger, on the angle, who burst through two forwards, and raced 50 metres to score under the posts to bring up the forty-burger.
Final Score: Australia 5 (0) New Zealand 43 (26)
Scorers
Australia
Tries – Lolesio
Pen –
Con –
Drop –
Cards – Daugunu (Yellow, 3′)
New Zealand
Tries – Tu’inukuafe, Mo’unga (2), Coles, R. Ioane, J. Barrett
Pen – Mo’unga
Con – Mo’unga (5)
Drop –
Cards – J. Barrett (Yellow, 9′), Frizell (Yellow, 80′)
Match Officials
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (NZR)
Assistant Ref 1: Paul Williams (NZR
Assistant Ref 2: Nic Berry (RA)
TMO: Angus Gardner (RA)
Teams
Australia
15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Filipo Daugunu, 13 Jordan Petaia, 12 Irae Simone, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Nic White, 8 Harry Wilson, 7 Michael Hooper (captain), 6 Ned Hanigan, 5 Matt Philip, 4 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 1 James Slipper
Replacements: 16 Jordan Uelese, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Fraser McReight, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Reece Hodge, 23 Hunter Paisami
New Zealand
15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Jordie Barrett, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Jack Goodhue, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Hoskins Sotutu, 7 Sam Cane (captain), 6 Shannon Frizell, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Patrick Tuipulotu, 3 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Karl Tu’inukuafe
Replacements: 16 Codie Taylor, 17 Alex Hodgman, 18 Tyrel Lomax, 19 Scott Barrett, 20 Dalton Papalii, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Ngani Laumape, 23 Rieko Ioane
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