All Blacks whip the Wallabies

AUCKLAND • The All Blacks overwhelmed Australia with a 57-22 drubbing in Auckland yesterday to make a winning start to the Rugby Championship and ensure the Bledisloe Cup stays in New Zealand for a 19th straight season.

In a white-hot atmosphere with bone-crunching tackles echoing around the ground, the Kiwis scored eight tries to three to post their highest-ever score over the Wallabies. The previous high by the All Blacks over Australia was 54-34 in Sydney in 2017.

Hooker Codie Taylor scored twice and Rieko Ioane, Brodie Retallick, Ardie Savea, Sevu Reece, Will Jordan and David Havili also grabbed tries as the hosts earned a bonus point and put paid to any notion that they are a fading force.

The visitors were still in touch at 21-15 down at half-time, but five tries in the second half comfortably secured the All Blacks a 22nd successive victory over the Wallabies at Eden Park in a winning streak stretching back to 1986.

Australia, who had needed a win to keep the annual three-match Bledisloe Cup series alive after a 33-25 defeat last week, scored three tries through a brace from winger Andrew Kellaway and a Tate McDermott effort but they fell away towards the end.

All Blacks coach Ian Foster described the win as a "really good performance, one we're proud of".

He added: "In many ways it was a typical All Blacks-Australia Test match, very physical, very abrasive. Even when we were under pressure we found a way out of there. The composure was really, really good because we were under a lot of pressure there particularly in that first half."

The Wallabies had more possession but the All Blacks are masters at the counter-attacking game, and time and again they ruthlessly punished the visitors for their errors.

Centre Ioane's fourth-minute try and the Reece score that took the lead to 38-15 just after the break both came from intercepts of lofted passes as Australia attempted to get the ball wide quickly.

The tries from lock Retallick and No. 8 Savea both came from broken play, with the All Blacks showing once again that few teams can match them when it comes to moving the ball quickly and finding support players.

Scrum-half McDermott's try came just before the half-time break as Australia exerted real pressure on the home line, and they continued in the same vein early in the second half.

Savea was shown a yellow card two minutes after the break as the hosts defended frantically. But a crooked lineout throw relieved the pressure and, by the time the loose forward returned, New Zealand had scored 10 unanswered points.

Wallabies coach Dave Rennie said his side had no excuses.

"We were well beaten because we didn't treasure the ball enough," he said. "I thought we defended really well in the first half and were really physical in the first half but we made some really poor decisions."

World champions South Africa, who sat out last year's Rugby Championship because of concerns at the lack of preparation time for their players during the Covid-19 pandemic, returned to the fray against Argentina in Port Elizabeth later yesterday. The result was not available at press time.

REUTERS, AGENCE-PRESSE