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The All Blacks extended their lead in The Rugby Championship after beating Australia on Saturday
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A brace from Israel Dagg gave New Zealand a 15-9 lead at the break in Wellington
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Further scores from Julian Savea and Sam Kane secured the bonus point and the win for the All Blacks
The Rugby Championship continued in front of a sellout crowd in Wellington this morning with the All Blacks claiming a 14th straight Bledisloe Cup after overcoming the Wallabies for the second time in a fortnight.
Michael Chieka’s Wallabies were much improved following last weekend’s embarrassing 42-8 defeat to the Kiwi’s in Sydney but with only one win in their previous 14 against their fierce rivals, things were always going to be difficult for the men in gold as they were convincingly beaten once again.
New Zealand took what opportunities fell their way in a stop-start affair, the whistle of referee Romain Poite a constant presence throughout the 80 minutes.
A first-half double to Israel Dagg gave the hosts a 15-9 advantage at the break, before Julian Savea and Sam Cane crossed for tries in the second half.
Following a pumped up Haka, it didn’t take the back-to-back world champions long to score with Israel Dagg sliding over after just eight minutes for the All Blacks. Beauden Barrett added the extras before Bernard Foley narrowed the deficit with a penalty. Barrett and Foley then exchanged three-pointers as the Wallabies continued to keep in touch with 20 minutes gone, 10-6.
Soon after, speedster Dagg wriggled free to put the host’s nine points clear as he touched down his second try but a long-range penalty from Wallabies replacement Reece Hodge meant the men in gold trailed just 15-9, which was far better than seven days ago when they were 32-3 down in Sydney.
They did nevertheless end the opening 40 a man down after Adam Coleman was sent to the sin-bin for an off the ball challenge on Ben Smith.
The superb All Blacks were first to draw blood after the restart as Julian Savea pinned his ears back and crashed over in the corner. Barrett then converted to move the hosts 13 points clear.
As Australia began to flag and New Zealand began to make changes, the game was very much in the Kiwi’s control with Sam Cane adding a fourth try just after the hour to secure a 29-9 victory.
NEW ZEALAND: ISRAEL DAGG
New Zealand: 15 Ben Smith, 14 Israel Dagg, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (c), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Joe Moody
Replacements: 16 James Parsons, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Liam Squire, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Aaron Cruden, 23 Seta Tamanivalu
Australia: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Samu Kerevi, 12 Bernard Foley, 11 Dane Haylett-Petty, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Kane Douglas, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Scott Sio
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 James Slipper, 18 Allan Ala’alatoa, 19 Dean Mumm, 20 Will Skelton, 21 Tevita Kuridrani, 22 Reece Hodge, 23 Nick Phipps
Date: Saturday, August 27
Venue: Westpac Stadium, Wellington
Kick-off: 19:35 local (07:35 GMT)
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
Assistant Referees: Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Federico Anselmi (Argentina)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)