Rugby: All Blacks thrash Wallabies to put one hand on trophy

The All Blacks put one hand on the Rugby Championship trophy with a convincing 40-14 bonus victory over an error-prone and ill-disciplined Wallabies side at Auckland's Eden Park on Saturday.

The victory means the Springboks will also need to secure a bonus point and beat Argentina by at least 39 points in the final match of the championship in Durban later on Saturday to take the title back to South Africa.

The hosts earned their third straight win in emphatic style.

New Zealand hammered the Australians at the breakdown and a Will Jordan score supplemented by a penalty try helped them to a comfortable 17-0 lead after a fractious first half which saw two Wallabies sent to the sin bin.

All Blacks skipper Sam Whitelock crossed for a third try soon after the break and hooker Codie Taylor and his replacement Samisoni Taukei'aho added further five-pointers to give the Springboks an imposing target.

“Really, really happy with the defence (and) it was nice to put some good moments on moments there,” said lock Whitelock.

“That’s what we’ve been trying to do all the time and it’s nice when it starts to happen.”

The Wallabies saw their horror record at Eden Park extended to 23 straight defeats against New Zealand dating back to 1986.

Australia only had the consolation of converted tries by Folau Fainga’a and Jordan Petaia in front of a sell-out crowd of 47,000 in Auckland.

“Two yellow cards in the first half really put us on the back foot,” said captain James Slipper.

“That’s a very disappointing outcome for us. Far too much dropped ball and too many penalties put us under pressure.

"It just wasn’t good enough.” REUTERS, AFP