The Qantas Wallabies have gone down to New Zealand 5-43 in Sydney with the All Blacks claiming the Bledisloe Cup for 2020.
The All Blacks flew out of the blocks at a wet and windy ANZ Stadium to open an early lead following a yellow card to Wallabies winger Filipo Daugunu.
It was New Zealand prop Karl Tu’inukuafe who capitalised following a dominant lineout drive to open the scoring before All Blacks hooker Dane Coles had a try disallowed due to a knock-on in the grounding.
A miraculous cover tackle from Marika Koroibete kept Australia in the contest with the Wallabies winger sliding in to hold up a rampaging Caleb Clarke who seemed certain to grab a try of his own.
New Zealand flyhalf Richie Mo’unga was pulling the strings for the All Blacks and he then sliced his way through the Australian defence to score a try in the corner.
Mo’unga had a double soon after, following a deft chip behind that allowed the Kiwi number 10 to gather and run the rest of the field to score a memorable five pointer.
The All Blacks first half onslaught wasn’t over though as hooker Dane Coles made it 26-nil at the break, after barging over off the back of a powerful rolling maul.
The Wallabies started the second half on the perfect note as Jordan Petaia troubled the New Zealand defence before quick ball allowed Lolesio to smash through for Australia’s opening points.
Australia started to wrestle back momentum and territory but New Zealand kept the pressure on the scoreboard, as they took three points from a penalty right in front of the Wallabies’ posts.The Wallabies couldn’t capitalise on any period of second half possession and New Zealand then hit them with a swift one-two.
First, Rieko Ioane finished off a smart play off the back of an All Blacks scrum before Jordie Barrett glided through for New Zealand’s sixth try to cap a 43-5 win.
The two sides now move north to Suncor Stadium in Brisbane for the fourth and final Bledisloe Cup Test on Saturday 7 November.
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SCORERS
Qantas Wallabies 5 (Lolesio try) defeated by New Zealand 43 (Karl Tu’inukuafe, Richie Mo’unga 2, Dane Coles, Rieko Ioane, Jordie Barrett; Richie Mo’unga 5 cons; Mo’unga pens)
