New Zealand retained the Bledisloe Cup for a 23rd straight year as they powered past Australia 50-19 at Eden Park. The All Blacks have not lost at the venue since 1994, with a dominant second-half display extending their unbeaten run in Auckland to 54 Tests. Australia remained in touch at half-time at 17-14 down but New Zealand blew the visitors away after the break, scoring five tries.
Peter Lakai, Tupou Vaa'i, Cam Roigard, Codie Taylor, Leroy Carter, Josh Moorby and Will Jordan all scored as fly-half Damian Mc Kenzie kicked 15 points. Victory halted a three-match losing streak for the All Blacks after the 3-1 series defeat by world champions South Africa this summer. Defeat for the Wallabies was their first since head coach Les Kiss succeeded Joe Schmidt in July, ending their six-game unbeaten run.
Australia were looking for their first win at Eden Park since 1986 and went ahead after controlling the early stages through full-back Tom Wright's try. New Zealand responded strongly, and inspired by scrum-half Roigard's searching kicks, turned the match around with tries from Lakai and Vaa'i. Wallabies captain Harry Wilson scored a try to keep New Zealand at arm's length, but the All Blacks moved through the gears in the second half.
Roigard grabbed a try for himself shortly after the break, before Taylor, Carter, Moorby and Jordan went over as Australia struggled to hold back the hosts' waves of attack. Josh Nasser added a late try for the visitors, but the match was well beyond their reach by that point. The second match of the two-Test series takes place in Sydney at the Accor Stadium on 17 October.
Source: BBC Sport · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing