New Zealand beat Australia 38-13 in the opening round last week and this week they will have home advantage at fortress Eden Park.
The All Blacks have won 10 of their last 12 games against the Wallabies in The Rugby Championship (D1, L1), including their last five on the bounce.
- New Zealand has won their last 17 games on the bounce against Australia at Eden Park, including their last four by an average margin of 27 points per game.
- The All Blacks are undefeated in their last 41 Tests at Eden Park (W39, D2); their last defeat at the venue came in July 1994 against France.
- The Aussies have not won at the famous ground since 1987.
- New Zealand has won their last 13 games on the bounce in The Rugby Championship; their 81 all-time wins in the competition is nearly twice as many as any other nation (Australia 44, South Africa 43).
- The Wallabies haven’t defeated the All Blacks in New Zealand since picking up a 23-15 victory against them in August 2001, losing 21 games on the bounce, since.
- Australia has now lost their last three games on the bounce; the last time they went longer without a victory was a six-game losing streak from 2015 to 2016 which included three losses to New Zealand.
- The Wallabies have lost each of their last two games without Israel Folau in the squad; only New Zealand’s Rieko Ioane (15) has scored more Test tries since the beginning of 2017 than the injured Israel Folau who has crossed 12 times, twice as many as any other Australia player.
- Kieran Read has scored six Test tries at Eden Park, more than any other forward at that level and twice as many as he has scored at any other venue in Tests.
- The Wallabies’ Jack Maddocks last round became the first Australian to score on debut when playing from the bench since Taqele Naiyaravoro in September 2015 against the USA.
Match detail
We are waiting for the kick-off.
Owen Franks will become the second All Blacks forward in as many weeks to play his 100th Test, and the second Kiwi prop to reach the special milestone.
The Kiwi prop has played more Tests in history to have not scored a try after James Slipper (86 Tests) and Salvatore Perugini (83).
As always, a powerful rendition of Kapa o Pango by the All Blacks, led by TJ Perenara.
1.00: PEEEEP! We are underway in Auckland for Bledisloe Two. Aaron Smith’s clearance is charged down by Adam Coleman close to the All Blacks goal-line but is cleaned up by Beauden Barrett, who kicks deep.
3.00: Australia wins a lineout against the throw, but knock on during the counter-attack. The surface is a little bit greasy.
5.00: Brodie Retallick strips the ball off an Aussie attacker and Beauden Barrett’s grubber is pin-point. Retallick then steals the lineout; great start by the lock.
7.00: Australia wins a penalty after David Pocock almost knocks out Liam Squire.
8.00: The visitors get another penalty at the maul. Bernard Foley kicks to the 10.
9.00: Australia’s lineout woes continue, losing another throw. They are also struggling to get over the advantage line, but they are slowly making metres.
11.00: Kurtley Beale is pinged for not rolling away. Barrett kicks deep into the Wallabies 22.
12.00: Beauden Barrett loses the ball forward and the Aussies launch a counter-attack from their 22. Marika Koroibete chases the kick, but Waisake Naholo gets back and saves the day.
13.00: TRY! Ben Smith wins the high-ball and starts an attack from deep. Naholo is tackled, the ball recycled before Beauden Barrett – who else? – ghosts through a gap and slides over under the posts. 5-0
14.00: CONVERSION! Barrett converts his score. 7-0
16.00: Australia on the attack. The ball looked to be lost forward, but referee Wayne Barnes says “play on”. Foley kills the attack by going offsides.
18.00: Beauden Barrett almosts sneaks through a small gap after combining with Jack Goodhue. He has been quality.
19.00: Australia get a penalty on halfway; Foley puts the ball into touch on the Kiwi 22.
20.00: A good attack breaks down after another Australian player tackles an opposition player without the ball. The ref explains to Michael Hooper that it is the second time.
22.00: Codie Taylor gets away with an accidental offside, but instead of a straightforward penalty in front of the poles, the All Blacks get a centre-field scrum.
24.00: Australia is camped on New Zealand’s try line. They botch a seven on two before going nine phases with pick and drives. Oh dear! They do eventually win a penalty. Australia won’t win the game kicking penalties, and Hooper knows this. Instead, he opts for a scrum under the poles.
27.00: The scrum is reset before Joe Moody is pinged for collapsing. We will scrum again. Pressure on the All Blacks pack.
28.00: The scrum goes down, again. The reset, reset scrum goes down yet again and the Kiwis are pinged, again. Hooper asks Barnes for more than a penalty, but the ref folds.
29.00: TRY! Beale went to the right, then left behind the scrum, dragging Aaron Smith wide before Will Genia slips through a gap and dots down for his 15th Test try. 7-5
30.00: CONVERSION! Foley levels. 7-all
32.00: Australia has down well to be level. The home team are still making too many handling errors and are not as clinical in the red zone, as usual. Good game, here.
34.00: A bit of a kicking battle ensues during another long period of play that has changed hands multiple times.
35.00: Pocock wins a penalty at the breakdown. He is out on his feet, taking his time to get up. He’s made eight tackles, a lineout steal and won two penalties. What a player!
37.00: Beale loses possession after a sustained attack. The All Blacks counter…
38.00: TRY! The All Blacks go end-to-end and Barrett has another brace. Barrett started the counter, the ball was recycled and Ben Smith, Taylor, Jordie Barrett and Aaron Smith all combine for another sweeping move and try. 12-7
39.00: CONVERSION! Barrett, again, converts his five-pointer. 14-7
41.00: The hooter sounds. Australia is on the attack and creeping towards the Kiwi 22. Rettallick makes a crucial tackle before a forward pass ends an entertaining first half.
The halftime score was New Zealand 14 Australia 7
41.00: PEEEEP! We are back underway at Eden Park. What can Australia do to end an 11,000 plus days losing streak at Eden Park? Jordie Barrett is tackled without the ball by Allan Ala’alatoa; it’s the third such offence by Michael Cheika’s men.
42.00: Taylor overthrows, but the All Blacks retain possession and are on the march inside the Wallabies 22.
43.00: TRY! Easy as you like. New Zealand batters the Australian line with pick and drive after pick and drive for 13 phases before Taylor carries three defenders over the whitewash. Game over. 19-7
44.00: CONVERSION! Barrett makes no mistake. 21-7
46.00: Australia botch a driving maul by knocking on. They then concede their sixth penalty at the following scrum. Cheika will be furious.
48.00: TRY! Ngani Laumape gets over the gain line, Aaron Smith goes to his right, the All blacks shift the ball through the hands and Squire goes through a big gap and scores under the sticks. 26-7
50.00: CONVERSION! Barrett is enjoying all these simple kicks. 28-7
52.00: Jordie Barrett goes close, but is tackled into touch by Foley. both teams are ringing the changes.
54.00: It’s damage limitation time for Australia. They mustn’t concede more than 33 points in this half and they will have done well.
55.00: TRY! Foley goes blind, wriggles through a weak Aaron Smith tackle and sends Reece Hodge away for the score. 28-12
56.00: CONVERSION! Foley’s kick rebounds off the post. 28-12
59.00: New Zealand still finding space in the wide channels. Wallabies clinging on.
61.00: HAT-TRICK! Beauden Barrett sees Hooper jump the line and attacks Rob Simmons, skinning the lock and speeding away from Beale and Dane Haylett-Petty for his treble. 33-12
63.00: CONVERSION! Barrett adds another two. 35-12
64.00: Perenara is tackled without the ball; it’s the fourth penalty for this infringement. Barrett kicks to the 22. This is very ominous for the visitors, who look shot.
65.00: Ofa Tu’ungafasi is penalised for collapsing.
67.00: YEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS! Beauden Barrett becomes the first All Black to score four tries against the Wallabies. It was a work of art. Laumape throws a long pass wide and Rettalick sends his first-five away in the corner. Wait, no, the TMO ruled out the score for a knock on by Ardie Savea in the build up. 35-12
69.00: TRY! It’s four! Damian McKenzie takes Perenara’s pass after Rettalick’s turnover and races to the halfway line with a jinking run. As always, the support comes in droves before Ben Smith puts Beauden Barrett away for the try. Sensational from the World Champions, simply stunning from Barrett. 40-12
71.00: MISS! He’s human after all. 40-12
75.00: Australia still trying, to be fair.
77.00: TRY! Perenara breaks blind plays Luamape, who sends Naholo away. Wait, the TMO again chalks off the try, this time for a forward pass. 40-12
79.00: The scrum is reset, twice.
80.00: Game over. New Zealand retains the Bledisloe Cup.
Full-Time.
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The final score is New Zealand 40 (14) Australia 12 (7)
Scorers
New Zealand
Tries – B. Barrett (4), Taylor, Squire
Pen –
Con – B. Barrett (5)
Drop –
Cards –
Australia
Tries – Genia, Hodge
Pen –
Con – Foley
Drop –
Cards –
Match Officials
Referee: Wayne Barnes (RFU)
Assistant Ref 1: Jaco Peyper (SARU)
Assistant Ref 2: Luke Pearce (RFU)
TMO: Marius Jonker (SARU)
Teams
New Zealand
15 Jordie Barrett, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Jack Goodhue, 12 Ngani Laumape, 11 Waisake Naholo, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (captain), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Liam Squire, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Joe Moody.
Replacements: 16 Nathan Harris, 17 Karl Tu’inukuafe, 18 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 19 Scott Barrett, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 Thomas Perenara, 22 Damian McKenzie, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown.
Australia
15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Jack Maddocks, 13 Reece Hodge, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper (captain), 6 Lukhan Tui, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Izack Rodda, 3 Allan Ala’alatoa, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Scott Sio.
Replacements: 16 Folau Fainga’a, 17 Tom Robertson, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Pete Samu, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Matt Toomua, 23 Tom Banks.
