Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

All Blacks lock away Bledisloe Cup for another year after comprehensive first half showing against Wallabies

(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

The Wallabies have endured a Halloween nightmare to hand the All Blacks the Bledisloe Cup for an 18th straight year.

ADVERTISEMENT

New Zealand piled on six tries to one, with five-eighth and man-of-the-match Richie Mo’unga bagging a brilliant double and a 23-point personal haul as the All Blacks took an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the four-game series with a record-breaking 43-5 rout on Saturday night.

Wallabies coach Dave Rennie handed Test debuts to five-eighth Noah Lolesio and inside centre Irae Simone, marking the first time in 73 years that Australia had blooded a rookie 10-12 combination against the All Blacks.

Video Spacer

Wallabies captain Michael Hooper speaks to media ahead of Bledisloe Cup III

Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
Duration 0:00
Loaded: 0%
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time 0:00
 
1x
    • Chapters
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions off, selected
      Video Spacer

      Wallabies captain Michael Hooper speaks to media ahead of Bledisloe Cup III

      But the daring move backfired, Mo’unga’s mastery schooling Lolesio as the 20-year-old’s forgettable first half helped the All Blacks bolt to a 26-0 lead at the break.

      Defending at fullback, Lolesio struggled with his positional play as the All Blacks, armed with more than 60 per cent possession and territory, mounted attack after attack.

      Lolesio’s kicking game was also poor.

      But the young playmaker was far from alone in having an off night.

      Three-Test winger Filipo Daugunu crashed back to earth from the highs of his Wellington debut in the series-opening draw, a succession of handling errors and his early stint in the sin-bin also hurting the Wallabies.

      Daugunu vowed pre-game to put a hit on his All Blacks opposite and Bledisloe II chief destroyer Claeb Clarke but got his timing badly wrong, leaving the Wallabies with 14 men in just the third minute after taking out his opposing winger in mid-air.

      ADVERTISEMENT

      The All Blacks wasted no time making the Wallabies pay, prop Karl Tu’inukuafe crossing two minutes later for the first try of the night.

      In an action-packed opening quarter of an hour, New Zealand winger Jordie Barrett was sent to the sin-bin for elbowing Wallabies fullback Dane Haylett-Petty before the TMO Angus Gardner denied the All Blacks two more tries in the space of four minu tes.

      First, hooker Dane Coles was deemed to have knocked the ball on over the line after showing great foot speed to reel in Mo’unga’s probing cross-field kick.

      Then Marika Koroibete miraculously forced Clarke dead in goal with a brilliant, George Gregan-esque, trysaver.

      ADVERTISEMENT

      But there was no let-up from the All Blacks and they inevitably claimed their second try when Mounga switched inside and beat Wallabies hooker Brandon Paenga-Amosa, then Nic White and Lolesio for pace to dive over in the corner.

      Mo’unga was in again shortly after when he collected a lovely chip kick from Beauden Barrett and raced 70 metres to score.

      Coles wasn’t denied for a second time when he cashed in on the All Blacks’ deadly driving maul on the half hour.

      A destructive solo run from fellow young gun Jordan Petaia led to Lolesio charging over for Australia’s only try of the game two minutes into the second half.

      But further five-pointers to Rieko Ioane and Jordie Barrett completed the drubbing, the All B lacks’ winning margin the biggest over the Wallabies in 169 trans-Tasman Tests stretching back to 1903.

      All Blacks 43 (Tries to Karl Tu’inukuafe, Richie Mo’unga (2), Dane Coles, Rieko Ioane and Jordie Barrett; 6 conversions and penalty to Mo’unga; yellow cards to Barrett and Shannon Frizell)

      Wallabies 5 (Try to Noah Lolesio; yellow card to Filipo Daugunu)

      TEAMS
      Wallabies: 1. James Slipper 2. Folau Fainga’a 3. Allan Alaalatoa 4. Lukhan Salakaia-Loto 5. Matt Philip 6. Ned Hanigan 7. Michael Hooper 8. Harry Wilson 9. Nic White 10. Noah Lolesio 11. Marika Koroibete 12. Irae Simone 13. Jordan Petaia 14. Filipo Daugunu, 15. Dane Haylett-Petty
      Reserves: 16. Jordan Uelese 17. Scott Sio 18. Taniela Tupou 19. Rob Simmons 20. Fraser McReight 21. Tate McDermott 22. Reece Hodge 23. Hunter Paisami

      New Zealand: 1. Karl Tu’inukuafe 2. Dane Coles 3. Ofa Tuungafasi 4. Patrick Tuipulotu, 5. Samuel Whitelock 6. Shannon Frizell 7. Sam Cane (c) 8. Hoskins Sotutu 9. Aaron Smith, 10. Richie Mo’unga 11. Caleb Clarke 12. Jack Goodhue 13. Anton Lienert-Brown 14. Jordie Barrett 15. Beauden Barrett
      Reserves: 16. Codie Taylor 17. Alex Hodgman 18. Tyrel Lomax 19. Scott Barrett 20. Dalton Papalii 21. TJ Perenara 22. Ngani Laumape 23. Rieko Ioane.

      ADVERTISEMENT

      Boks Office | Episode 37 | Six Nations Round 4 Review

      Cape Town | Leg 2 | Day 2 | HSBC Challenger Series 2025 | Full Day Replay

      Gloucester-Hartpury vs Bristol Bears | PWR 2024/25 | Full Match Replay

      Boks Office | Episode 36 | Six Nations Round 3 Review

      Why did Scotland's Finn Russell take the crucial kick from the wrong place? | Whistle Watch

      England A vs Ireland A | Full Match Replay

      Kubota Spears vs Shizuoka BlueRevs | JRLO 2024/2025 | Full Match Replay

      Watch now: Lomu - The Lost Tapes

      Trending on RugbyPass

      Comments

      0 Comments
      Be the first to comment...

      Join free and tell us what you really think!

      Sign up for free
      ADVERTISEMENT

      Latest Features

      Comments on RugbyPass

      E
      Eflmiia Rybakova 1 hour ago
      Mixed Wales update on availability of Josh Adams, Gareth Anscombe

      One morning I discovered our Bitcoin wallet emptied, $350,000 gone, stolen by a fake tech-education partner, I sat frozen in the cold glow of my laptop. Those funds were meant to build coding labs, buy laptops, and bring robotics workshops to kids in neighborhoods where hope often felt like a rumor. Now, the balance reads $0.00. The screen’s blue light reflected off empty desks in our community center, where laughter had once bounced during programming camps. I felt like I’d failed a thousand futures.  Then, Ms. Rivera, a retired teacher who’d turned her garage into a makeshift tech hub, found me staring at the void. Her hands, still chalk-dusted from tutoring algebra, gripped my shoulders. “You’re not done yet,” she said. That night, she posted our story in an online educators’ forum. By dawn, a flood of replies poured in, but one stood out: “Contact On WhatsApp +.1.5.6.1.7.2.6.3.6.9.7 OR Email. Tech cybers force recovery (@ cyber services (.)com. They’re miracle workers.”  I called, voice shaking. A woman named Priya answered, her tone steady as a lighthouse. She asked questions in plain language: “When did the money vanish?” “What’s the scammer’s wallet address?” Within hours, her team mapped the theft, a maze of fake accounts and dark web mixers. “They’re hiding your Bitcoin like needles in a haystack,” Priya explained. “But we’ve got magnets.”  Sixteen days of nerve-wracking limbo followed. Our volunteer coders, like Jamal, a college dropout teaching Python to teens, refused to cancel classes. “We’ll use chalkboards if we have to,” he said. Parents brought homemade meals, kids scribbled “THANK U” notes for labs they hoped to see. Then, on a rainy Tuesday, Priya called: “94% recovered. The kids won’t miss a thing.”I’ll never forget reloading the wallet. The balance blinked back $329,000 as Jamal whooped and Ms. Rivera dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief. Today, our labs hum with donated laptops. Kids like Sofia, an 11-year-old who codes apps to find clean water sources, light up screens with ideas that could change the world.  TECH CYBER FORCE RECOVERY didn’t just reclaim coins, they salvaged dreams. Priya’s team works like teachers of the digital age, turning scams into lessons and despair into grit. And to the forum stranger who tagged them: you’re the quiet hero who rewrote our story.If your mission gets hacked, call these wizards. They’ll fight in the shadows so kids like Sofia can keep lighting up the world.

      4 Go to comments
      LONG READ
      LONG READ Did innovative England emerge strongest from the Six Nations? Did innovative England emerge strongest from the Six Nations?
      Search