New Zealand hold on to beat Australia 33-25 in 1st Bledisloe

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — Flyhalf Richie Mo’unga dashed 75 meters for an intercept try and tallied 18 points as New Zealand defended a 35-year winning streak at Eden Park on Saturday, beating fast-finishing Australia 33-25 in the first test of the annual Bledisloe Cup rugby series.

The All Blacks haven’t been beaten by the Wallabies at the Auckland stadium since 1986, when “Crocodile Dundee” was among the top-grossing films and before any player on either team was born.

New Zealand also has held the Bledisloe Cup — played annually between Australia and New Zealand — since 2003 and their win Saturday places them in a strong position to continue that winning streak. The teams meet again at Eden Park next weekend in the second test of the Bledisloe series before heading to Australia.

The Wallabies pressed the All Blacks at first Saturday, had them under pressure at times and were unlucky to concede a 40th-minute try which put the All Blacks ahead 16-8 at halftime. Then, trailing 33-8 after 65 minutes, they finished strongly with two tries to fullback Tom Banks and another to replacement hooker Jordan Uelese to slash New Zealand’s winning margin to eight points.

The third quarter of the match belonged to the All Blacks, who corrected many of the faults of the first half, stiffened their discipline and defense, and, playing into a strong breeze, added three tries to build a convincing win.

Mo’unga may have broken the hearts of the Wallabies when, in the 45th minute, he anticipated a wide pass from Australia center Hunter Paisama, pounced on the ball just outside the All Blacks’ 22 and dashed 75 meters to score a try which gave the All Blacks their first emphatic lead.

Center David Havili and fullback Damian McKenzie added tries, both assisted by long passes from scrumhalf Aaron Smith who, in his 100th test for New Zealand, played a vital part in the win.

"First and foremost to get a win over a tough Aussie team, especially for (Smith’s) 100th game was really important for us,” Mo’unga said. “There was a bit of game management in the second half.

“We didn’t use the wind to our advantage in the first half," he added, "and in the second half we were into a strong wind and forced to play more but we got a bit sloppy at the end.”

The major concern for the All Blacks was the way in which they ended the match as they seemed to lose direction in the last 15 minutes as the Australian bench fueled a sustained revival.

Banks scored in the 69th and 75th minutes and Uelese in the second minute of injury time to make the scoreline narrow.

The match passed through several phases. At first, Australia couldn’t connect with its lineout throws and that gave the All Blacks an important advantage. At the same, the All Blacks lacked discipline and conceded numerous penalties in the first quarter.

Mo’unga kicked three consecutive penalties to put New Zealand ahead 9-0 while Wallabies flyhalf Noah Lolesio struggled off the tee. Overall, Lolesio managed only two successes from seven kicks at goal — a significant figure in a match decided by eight points.

Wallabies winger Andrew Kellaway, a terrier after the ball in the first half, scored the first try of the match in the 36th minute when Australia over-threw a lineout and center Paisami claimed the ball and passed to Kellaway. Lolesio missed the conversion which meant the Wallabies still trailed 9-8 and never led at any stage of the match.

A penalty conceded by Wallabies captain Michael Hooper put the All Blacks in an attacking position just before halftime and from a lineout the All Blacks took the ball to the line and winger Sevu Reece scored.

Reece might have scored again straight after halftime. Mo’unga ran around his marker near his own goalline and New Zealand carried the ball from one end of the field to the other for Reece to finish. But the play was called back for a forward pass between Smith and lock Brodie Retallick.

Tries by Havili and McKenzie boosted the All Blacks’ margin before Australia’s late comeback.

“We finished well again today and that’s been the trend of our year but we just didn’t get the start right,” Hooper said.

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