The All Blacks have extended their impressive Eden Park unbeaten streak to 54 Tests with a comfortable 50-19 victory over the Wallabies in the first Bledisloe Cup Test in Auckland.
The home side needed a positive performance after their 3-1 series loss against South Africa, and they looked a transformed side under the Eden Park lights, with relentless attack putting the Wallabies to the sword in a dominant second-half performance.
After a tightly contested first half which ended 17-14 to the hosts, the Wallabies were well and truly in the fight; however, a clinical second 40 from the All Blacks inflicted Les Kiss' first loss as Wallabies coach.
The All Blacks will keep the Bledisloe Cup for the 24th year in a row, before they head to Sydney for the second Test next week.
The visitors put pressure on the All Blacks early and finally got through the All Blacks defence as they shifted the ball to the left for fullback Tom Wright, who exploded through a hole and used his pace to give the Wallabies an early lead.
The home side were underwhelming in the opening stages of the Test, committing multiple offside infringements while defending their line and were shaky at lineout time.
It was a frantic opening 40 minutes, as both sides looked to play open, running rugby, especially the All Blacks as they often chose to play with the ball in hand from inside their 22.
A positive from the first half for the All Blacks was their seemingly improved kick chase, with Jordie Barrett and Quinn Tupaea causing the Wallabies problems defensively under the high ball.
Damian McKenzie was immense at 10, getting his hands on the ball early and running at the Wallabies defence before offloading to Peter Lakai, who was able to crash over to the line and level the scores.
The All Blacks were ruthless from the restart, with Tupou Vaa’i finishing off another broken-play try, and McKenzie heavily involved in the buildup once again.
However, the Wallabies were able to close the gap to just three points just before half-time as Ben Donaldson linked up with his captain, Harry Wilson, who ran a brilliant support line to score next to the posts.
The Wallabies did well to earn post-contact metres in the first half, with Jeremy Williams a standout for the green and gold.
Beauden Barrett looked comfortable at fullback, particularly on defence, with the 146-Test veteran saving the All Blacks at the back on multiple occasions.
The All Blacks worked hard to crack the Wallabies' defence in the second half, and finally halfback Cam Roigard was able to strike with a quick snipe from the back of the ruck close to the line.
The Wallabies' fitness was tested as the All Blacks kept up their relentless attack with multiple phases against their tiring forward pack. New All Black captain Codie Taylor capitalised on his side's dominance with his 25th Test try next to the posts.
The Wallabies fizzled out in the last 20 minutes, with the All Blacks dominating possession, territory and the scoreboard.
Great support play from Leroy Carter earned him a try, carrying Rob Valetini with him. However, the big loose forward fell on the All Black winger's ankle in the process, forcing him off the field with a nasty-looking injury.
Will Jordan had the final say as he scored his 56th Test try to help the All Blacks reach 50 points at their fortress.
McKenzie was also impressive off the tee, only missing one kick from his eight attempts.
A failed HIA for Scott Barrett was another injury concern for the All Blacks, likely ruling him out of the second Test next weekend.
The Wallabies will have to pick themselves up and prepare for the second Bledisloe Cup Test in Sydney next Saturday.
All Blacks 50 (Peter Lakai, Tupou Vaa’i, Cam Roigard, Codie Taylor, Leroy Carter, Josh Moorby tries; Damian McKenzie 6 cons, pen)
Wallabies 19 (Tom Wright, Harry Wilson, Josh Nasser tries; Ryan Lonergan 2 cons)
Halftime: 17-14
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