All Blacks secure Bledisloe Cup

Israel Dagg scores for the All Blacks against the Wallabies. Photo: Getty Images
Israel Dagg scores for the All Blacks against the Wallabies. Photo: Getty Images
It was not quite the sparkling performance of last week, but it was convincing all the same.

The All Blacks were 29-9 victors over Australia in Wellington tonight, locking up the Bledisole Cup for another year.

Four tries to nil was a fairly accurate reflection of how it went. The Wallabies brought more effort, niggle and confrontation but offered little else.

The All Blacks were superb defensively, pushing up fast and aggressively making their tackles to knock the Wallaby ball runners backwards. That made it tough for Australia to gain any go-forward, but they were just as much their own worst enemy. There was no creativity and a poor showing of skill. All too often the attack was too easy to read, as the All Blacks lined up the ball recipient and smashed them behind the gain line.

In contrast the All Blacks were their usual lively selves. With ball in hand they were made to work harder and made a few more mistakes, but ultimately were too good for an Australian defence that despite pushing up faster, still missed too many tackles. In close the All Blacks made easy metres, while out wide they found space and exhibited their handling skills to make full use of it.

Israel Dagg crossed for two tries in the first half, while Julian Savea and Sam Cane picked up one each after the break.

All four were created with outstanding play in the lead-up, as Beauden Barrett in particular proved lethal coming into the line deep wider out. His ability to breakthrough the defence set up Dagg's second try, while his work to draw in the defence and throw a cut out pass to Ben Smith was the catalyst for putting Savea into space.

Australia had no answer. At times they seemed more interested in starting scuffles and trash talking than they did about actually scoring a try. They were left scoreless in the second half, scoring all of their points through first half penalty goals. Those penalty goals allowed them to stay in touch, keeping the score to 15-9 at the break, but it was hard to see them coming back after the All Blacks got away.

Barrett was once again a star, threatening every time he took the ball to the line, while the midfield pairing of Malakai Fekitoa and Anton Lienert-Brown had a solid showing in their first game together. Up front Owen Franks was outstanding in the physical exchanges, while the loose forwards were dynamic from start to finish.

Dagg got the scoring underway in the seventh minute, scoring in the corner two phases after receiving a ball from debutant Lienert-Brown. Bernard Foley struck back with a penalty three minutes later, before Barrett restored the seven-point lead with a penalty straight off the kick-off.

Dagg scored again to take the score to 15-3, but two Australian penalties closed the gap as the men in gold tried to fight their way back into the game.

They were unable to though, letting in two more tries and being unable to get across the All Blacks line.

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