The All Blacks have expressed huge relief at securing the Bledisloe Cup for a 23rd straight year after denying the gallant Wallabies 31-28 in the opening trans-Tasman Test in Sydney.
After racing out to a 21-0 lead inside 15 minutes on Saturday, New Zealand had to withstand a fierce Australian fightback to retain the prized piece of silverware as All Blacks coach Scott Robertson savoured how his side “found a way”.
“We found ourselves in a bit of a hole but we hung on there,” said skipper Scott Barrett.
“A bit of scramble defence and we hung on.”
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt was pleased with the grit of his side but disappointed with the early disconnect in defence at Accor Stadium.
“The reality is they maybe could have got more of a margin on the scoreboard if they’d finished a couple of opportunities, so we’ve got to be realistic about that,” Schmidt said.
“But we probably missed a couple of opportunities as well, which was really frustrating to get so close.”
The All Blacks suffered a pre-match blow with star fullback Beauden Barrett ruled out with illness.
But his scratching made little difference, with Will Jordan switching from the wing to fullback and storming through the middle after just 90 seconds to open the scoring.
Their own worst enemies making mistake after mistake, the Wallabies couldn’t contain their rivals early with Rieko Ioane and Caleb Clarke also cashing on the flimsy Australian defence.
Down 21-0, the Wallabies had to score next and did when McReight collected an inside ball from Nic White from a set-piece lineout play to run away and score.
Sevu Reece – the late in on the wing for the All Blacks – swooped on a loose pass from Hunter Paisami to put Ardie Savea over for New Zealand’s fourth try to make it 24-7 after 25 minutes.
The Wallabies showed plenty of pluck to stay in the contest and limit the deficit to 14 points at the break after hooker Matt Faessler darted over from the back of a maul and Jordie Barrett had a try disallowed as the halftime siren sounded for an earlier knock-on.
But the hosts continually shot themselves in the foot.
When McReight pulled off an unlikely 50-22, Australia lost the ensuing lineout.
When Tom Wright made a brilliant 30-metre burst, he had no support.
The game seemed all over when Damien McKenzie slotted a penalty goal early in the second half to kick New Zealand out to a 17-point lead.
When Savea barged his way over, the Wallabies looked to have conceded exactly 101 points in 101 minutes following their 67-27 capitulation last start against Argentina in Santa Fe.
But the TMO ruled Savea was held up, then found a forward pass from McKenzie to deny the All Blacks a third try in 20 minutes.
The reprieve, a Paisami try with 15 minutes remaining and yellow cards for All Blacks backs Anton Lienert-Brown and Clarke gave the Wallabies hope of a famous comeback victory.
Alas, even with 15 on 13 for five minutes and a one-man advantage for 10, the Wallabies couldn’t find the tryline again until Wright went over too little too late.
The victory will also almost certainly consign Australia to the Rugby Championship wooden spoon following four defeats from five matches thus far.
The loss soured James Slipper’s milestone 140th Test after the veteran prop was thrust in to the action on 50 minutes to surpass George Gregan as the most-capped Wallaby of all time.
