10/17/2026 02:36:00
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10/17 02:30 CDT After a dominant 1st half, New Zealand beats Australia 43-21 in
the 2nd Bledisloe rugby test
After a dominant 1st half, New Zealand beats Australia 43-21 in the 2nd
Bledisloe rugby test
SYDNEY (AP) --- The high-tempo, breadth-of-the-field game New Zealand hoped to
produce in a losing effort in South Africa came to life in Australia on
Saturday when the All Blacks beat the Wallabies 43-21 to sweep the Bledisloe
Cup rugby series 2-0.
After the first 12 minutes were frenetic but scoreless, New Zealand scored six
tries and conceded one to lead 36-7 by halftime and to take the match away from
Australia.
New Zealand, which lost the test series in South Africa 3-1, also scored the
first try of the second half but the Wallabies fought back strongly and created
a momentum shift which saw them score two tries to one after the break.
"The way we came out in that first half was great," All Blacks captain Codie
Taylor said. "It was a real challenge for us to make sure we backed up a really
good performance last week.
"I thought we were awesome in that first 40, backing ourselves and playing what
was in front, but that second 40 was a bit different."
In the first half, scrumhalf Cam Roigard conducted the All Blacks' superbly,
switching the attack left and right to twist and bend the Wallabies' defense
while Damian McKenzie picked out runners with short passes to create line
breaks.
When the line was broken, the New Zealand support game kicked in with ruthless
efficiency and multiple passes led to tries that dizzied defenders. Hooker
Codie Taylor and backrowers Peter Lakai and Wallace Sititi were strong runners
with the ball and fullback Beauden Barrett regularly inserted himself into the
backline and had two tries by halftime.
Lakai and Rieko Ioane also scored first-half tries and lock Fabian Holland put
in a huge shift with 21 tackles.
The Wallabies' attacking efforts generally were enveloped in swarming All
Blacks defense or undone by errors of handling or passing. But they scored
tries through lock Jeremy Williams in the first half and fullback Tom Wright
and Filipo Daugunu in the second.
Williams made a detour to the sin-bin shortly after his try and the All Blacks
exploited the numerical advantage when Sititi scored from the back of a
dominant scrum.
Barrett completed his double with an intercept try on the tick of halftime and
winger Josh Moorby who scored New Zealand's first try, also scored the first
try of the second half after only two minutes, making the score 43-7.
New Zealand then seemed on the verge of consecutive 50-point scorelines against
Australia after winning the first test 50-19 in Auckland last weekend. But
there was significant shift in the second half.
The All Blacks had been forced to make a late backline change when influential
center Jordie Barrett suffered a calf injury short before the match. They then
lost Barrett's midfield partner Quinn Tupaea to a failed head injury after only
four minutes.
Those setbacks didn't affect the fluency of the All Blacks' attack in the first
half but their combination become less easy in the second half as replacements
took the field and injuries and fatigue took their toll.
Winger Max Jorgensen again was Australia's best back and his elusive run along
the right touch led to Wright's try. Daugunu's length of the field effort
completed a 14-7 second half for Australia.
"I'm gutted. When you give a team like the All Blacks a head start it's tough
and it's not good enough from this group," Wallabies captain Harry Wilson said.
"We've got to be a lot better."
The men's game was part of a four-match day for spectators at the former
Olympic stadium in Sydney. In a women's 15-a-side match, Australia beat
Scotland 56-12 as part of the WXV Global Series. The Australian men's sevens
team drew 19-19 with two-time Olympic champions Fiji and the Australian women's
sevens side lost 21-12 to New Zealand.
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See AP's full rugby coverage here
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