All Blacks vs Wallabies takes: Roigard fuels 2nd half smashing, McReight erased

The All Blacks have secured the Bledisloe Cup for another year with a 50-19 win over the Wallabies at Eden Park.

A quick start by the Wallabies and brilliant try to Tom Wright gave the Australians hope, but the quickly allowed the home side to get back in it. At 17-14 it looked like there could be a contest, but poor discipline allowed the All Blacks too much real estate and they put the Wallabies to the sword.

Here are quick takes following the All Blacks big win.

Second 40 fade costly

This was as disappointing a second half as there has been for the Wallabies. In the game at 17-14 at the break, they slipped away to 43-14 before striking back with a late maul try.

A string of 2nd half penalties against the Wallabies fed the All Blacks early in the second half despite some dazzling work on the very first restart. The Wallabies had the All Blacks pinned on their own five before penalties just handed over momentum.

From there, the All Blacks worked down field and meticulously powered through phases before Cam Roigard scored from close range. It was a similar story for Codie Taylor’s try, with the Wallabies unable to arrest momentum and gifting entries into the 22.

Between the 40′ and 48′ minutes they gave away five straight penalties. What was an even contest at 17-14 quickly became 31-14 and the game was gone. The Wallabies can’t afford to give easy 22 exits like that to the All Blacks, who made them pay.

Fraser McReight lost on Eden Park

The Wallabies No.7 was in the thick of it at just about every ruck at Eden Park, but toiled with no reward. There were a couple breakdown contests early that he could’ve been rewarded with, and one steal came with the All Blacks under advantage, but for the most part he waned in effectiveness and ended with no turnovers won.

The All Blacks sent plenty of traffic his way, with an energy-sapping 17 tackles, many were gain line wins for the All Blacks. He finished with three missed tackles, including one on prop Pasilio Tosi on the goal line which ended with a try.

Unlike Perth where he came up with three turnovers against the Springboks, when McReight is erased from the game the Wallabies stand little chance against the top teams.

McReight is one of the world class players the Wallabies need to produce and at Eden Park he was lost out there.

Ben Donaldson mixed bag

The Wallabies backs are one of the slickest outfits in world rugby and put on a great play early in the first half. A smart tap on by Ben Donaldson put Jorgensen in the gap and the winger made no mistake linking quickly with his outside backs.

Fullback Tom Wright sliced through no less than four drifting All Blacks to knife them for an early 7 points.

With the All Blacks kicking dead from the restart, the fast start was then thrown away on the very next play. With a scrum on halfway, Donaldson kicked out on the full which triggered a momentum swing that allowed the All Blacks to land two tries and get a 17-7 lead.

The Wallabies’ flyhalf fought back late in the half to land a critical blow, running off a Harry Wilson screen he burst up the middle for a clean break past Lakai before putting his captain under the sticks untouched.

Donaldson had his moments but at Test level you can’t let momentum slip like that. The second half didn’t offer any opportunities for the Wallabies to get back in it and the game slipped away.

D-Mac and Roigard 1-2 punch

Back at No.10 for the first time this year, McKenzie was the spark the All Blacks needed to turn the momentum after the first 10 minutes. His line break and link with Peter Lakai set up the first try, while another smart snipe and offload to Sititi laid the platform for the second. They scored shortly after with Tupou Vaa’i crashing over from close range.

With the All Blacks running a lot of out the back plays from forwards, it was a busy night from the playmaker. A penalty goal in the 33rd minute extended the lead to 17-7.

While D-Mac did the damage in the first half, the second half was all about Cam Roigard. He took one try for himself, while directing phase after phase had the Wallabies passive D back pedalling. His kicking game turned the screws on the Wallabies before a switch play at the ruck with Lakai set up Leroy Carter.

Roigard once again put his class on show and delivered a resounding second half for the All Blacks to secure the win.

The All Blacks pack stood up

The All Blacks got big performances across the pack with No.8 Wallace Sititi shining in Ardie Savea’s absence. This was Sititi’s best game since his 2024 breakout year with the All Blacks. He carried extremely well, continually punching through the line and dragging multiple defenders with him. He burst through the line running off McKenzie and had a game-high 18 carries.

Peter Lakai had a couple of defensive lapses but overall played a great hand, with supporting lines critical on multiple tries. He had one big steal at the breakdown. Lock Josh Lord became integral to the lineout, taking nine takes.

The bench brought power which closed out the game with the Wallabies unable to stop the tide.