New Zealand vs Australia LIVE: Rugby Championship result as All Blacks notch big win at Eden Park
New Zealand 40-14 Australia: All Blacks move a step closer to the title with a thrashing of the Wallabies
The All Blacks put one hand on the Rugby Championship trophy with a convincing 40-14 bonus victory over an error-prone and ill-disciplined Wallabies side at Auckland’s Eden Park on Saturday.
The victory means the Springboks will also need to secure a bonus point and beat Argentina by at least 39 points in the final match of the championship in Durban later on Saturday to take the title back to South Africa.
New Zealand hammered the Australians at the breakdown and a Will Jordan score supplemented by a penalty try helped them to a comfortable 17-0 lead after a fractious first half which saw two Wallabies sent to the sin bin.
All Blacks skipper Sam Whitelock crossed for a third try soon after the break and hooker Codie Taylor and his replacement Samisoni Taukei’aho added further five-pointers to give the Springboks an imposing target.
Relive the action from the crunch Rugby Championship clash in Auckland below:
TRY! New Zealand 37-7 Australia
64 mins - Solid lineout, Australia stop the first maul but New Zealand get it moving again and Samisoni Taukei’aho drops over the line for the simple try. He came on for Codie Taylor and matches the starting hooker for style of try.
Mo’unga’s conversion attempt drifts just wide.
New Zealand 32-7 Australia
63 mins - New Zealand pour forward again and although they concede a scrum on the Australia five-metre line, the Wallabies make a mess of it.
The ball squirts out, it’s knocked on and Australia give away a pennlty for good measure. Kicked to the corner.
TRY! New Zealand 32-7 Australia
59 mins - Out of nowhere, the Wallabies have a try! They charge down an attempted clearance kick, it’s collected by Samu just outside the 22 who produces a brilliant offload inside as he’s being driven into tough which replacement hooker Folau Fainga’a - only just on the field - catches and rumbles over.
Good battling by the Aussies and the conversion from Foley is good.
New Zealand 32-0 Australia
57 mins - Good lineout although the maul is well defended by the All Blacks. Great work by Brodie Retallick to slow things down and he wins the turnover! Just brute strength. Another chance slips away for Australia.
New Zealand 32-0 Australia
56 mins - A decent attacking platform for Australia as they win a penalty in All Blacks territory and kick into the 22. They won’t want to end with a goose egg on the scoreboard.
TRY! New Zealand 32-0 Australia
53 mins - Lineout good this time. Inexorable driving maul towards the line and they’re over! Codie Taylor, who has had a great game, directing traffic from the back and he dots down. Simple stuff.
Mo’unga’s conversion from relatively wide is no good but this is still in danger of turning into a rout.
New Zealand 27-0 Australia
52 mins - Or not... Not straight at the lineout and it’s a Wallabies free-kick in their own 22. They opt for the scrum. Ah, but they’re outscrummaged again and get pinged.
Another NZ penalty, another kick to the corner
New Zealand 27-0 Australia
50 mins - The game has got a bit scrappy with the ball bouncing around in the loose. Eventually the All Blacks get over the ball at a breakdown to win the penalty and kick to the corner. Lineout drive incoming you’d think...
PENALTY! New Zealand 27-0 Australia
46 mins - New Zealand go for the posts and Richie Mo’unga makes no mistake from the tee. The All Black focus now will be ensuring they seal the bonus point (for scoring three more tries than Australia) and racking up the points difference to make South Africa’s job against Argentina later all the tougher.
New Zealand 24-0 Australia
45 mins - That might just break the back of the Australia resistance. All Blacks eating up ground now, Caleb Clarke with a powerful run, taking defenders with him, before a neat Smith offload frees Ioane.
Into the 22 - Lomax crashes up into a defender and then we come back for an All Blacks penalty.
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