Beauden Barrett dazzles as All Blacks secure Bledisloe Cup
Another second-half surge has seen the All Blacks secure the Bledisloe Cup for another year, with Steve Hansen’s men recording a 40-12 victory at Eden Park.
Beauden Barrett crossed four times and had a fifth try rubbed out in what was a masterful display of attacking rugby.
The five-eighth opened the scoring when he went in untouched in the 12th minute. Halfback Aaron Smith put Barrett through a gaping hole in the Wallaby defence from 20 metres out as the All Blacks struck first.
The Wallabies kept things close in the first half after building pressure and establishing prime field position through an improved scrum. Michael Hooper’s men won three consecutive scrum penalties on the All Black five-metre line before halfback Will Genia touched down off the back to give the Australians their first points.
Outside of Barrett, Ben Smith was a standout for the All Blacks, putting in an impressive shift on the right wing. Smith’s work under the high ball and in counter-attack. A long and weaving carry played a significant role in Barrett’s second try. Smith finished with 121 run metres and picked up a try assist.
After a tightly contested first 40 minutes and the All Blacks holding a 14-7 lead, the game once again opened up after the break. The All Blacks crossed for four tries and outscored the Wallabies 26-5 in a second-half slaughter.
Joe Moody and Liam Squire scored the All Blacks’ third and fourth tries within five minutes of each other shortly after play resumed for the second half. Moody crashed over from close range after a build-up of phases while Squire was put into a hole after a perfectly timed Brodie Retallick short ball. Jordie Barrett came close to scoring the side’s fifth but Bernard Foley dragged the fullback into touch by the bootlaces.
Beauden Barrett finished a pair of long-range tries towards the end of the match – including a dazzling 50-metre solo effort – to bring his total for the night to four. Barrett finished with 30 points after kicking five conversions.
The Wallabies scored their only points of the second half after Bernard Foley slipped through an Aaron Smith tackle following a midfield scrum. After the break Foley found Reece Hodge on his inside who finished over the line.
Star loose forward David Pocock once again impressed for the Wallabies, making good on all 13 of his tackle attempts and winning a pair of turnovers.
Despite the result, the visitors will be happy with the improvement shown at set piece. Michael Cheika’s side won 10 scrums without a loss and lost just two lineouts – a stark contrast to the eight they lost last weekend.
Missed tackles once again were a black mark for the Wallabies, with 42 missed on the night.
The All Blacks will now travel south to host Argentina in Nelson next weekend, while the Wallabies will head home to host the Springboks in Brisbane.
The All Blacks and Wallabies will meet again in Japan for the third Bledisloe Cup Test in October.
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Comments on RugbyPass
Great comeback to the playing field by Richie Mo’unga after the loss of his father. A great performance by Richie . I know him well and he is a great guy. On and off the field one of the greatest for the Crusaders. Scott Robertson would have loved him in his All Black’s side. A very missed player and person.
1 Go to commentsYeah nah he comes across as a funny bloke, but that stopped abruptly after the Nutcracker Prince debacle✋
1 Go to commentsAt this point I can’t watch him without thinking he’s a dirty slimebag. He should have been banned for the same amount of time that Quinn was out. It took Tupaea near on a fricking year to get fit enough to play again and his leg will never be the same. The other crap thing is that he was at ABs level and now he has to claw his way back there when he could have had several games under his belt.
4 Go to commentsThe Black Ferns 7’s have been without Captain Sarah Hirini now since Dec 23 in Dubai where she suffered a bad ACL injury - hopefully she is on the road to recovery for Madrid and Paris. Now also have Tyler King and Shiray kaka on the Injured List but the Team still found a way to win in Singapore and claim the overall Title.
1 Go to commentsUtter grub, hope he gets his leg broken. Shocking he is still playing after intentionally breaking quinn tupaeas knee
4 Go to commentsGreat to see NZ 7s teams finally coming into form and playing at the level that is expected of them.
2 Go to commentsChief Cheapshot on the market again.
4 Go to commentsCrusaders went all in to buy Hotham and Kemara staight from Hamilton Boys. Then they picked up Reihana and Hohepa; all have been dropped for superstar Havili, who is a very good fullback, that’s it. Ennor and Goodhue were schoolboy stars too but went backwards at the Crusaders. Maybe they have finally decided to give another poach Levi Aumua the ball?
13 Go to commentsJoe S has some talent to pick from. The Reds loosies look the best in Super? Aus might just give Razor a headache this year. Int. experience v Cantab greenhorn:) Should be fun.
13 Go to commentsEnd to end play, “THE FANS” this game was entertainment of the best. The conditions added to the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsSorry to say, but sadly the sadas were just ordinary and havilli at 10 as an abs selection just won’t cut it. He’s better suited in the centre’s and is a victim of past charge down kicks, he’s too slow under pressure. There’s better talent further north and I don’t mean dmac however I believe razor will sort him out. A feature of his presents on the park is the fact that the guys will follow him.
13 Go to commentsMarler was brilliant throughout both in the scrum and open play. His slap made virtually no contact with Ramos who milked it for a penalty when he could have been a decent sportsman and laughed it off, it was non-violent and shouldn't have been penalised. Smith failed repeatedly to kick when necessary and put up a couple of bombs into the TLS 22 that just handed back possession at key moments to the other side.
3 Go to commentsCros was outstanding and rightly awarded France TVs player of the match award. Mallia was brilliant as usual (the y is below the 6 on a UK keyboard and he deserves better than that). Level also seems to have been scored harshly as he walked the ball into touch under pressure from a Lynagh kick from well outside his own half which should never have led to a 50-22. Agree with BullShark that Dupont, while class at times, seemed to go missing for patches in the second half with props, hookers and wings frequently filling in at 9 as he couldn't get off the deck and up to the next ruck on time. A 7 by his standards at best, his kicking was also too long, too often. Kinghorn's overall contribution was worth well more than a five.
4 Go to commentsThe Harlequins team must be in minus figures. Did the reporter actually watch the game?
4 Go to commentsHow on earth did Walker escape a red card? Not dangerous? Dupont has his face in a mask earlier this season. Shocking decision. What is the point of TMOs? We had the Fassi ‘non-penalty try’ yesterday and now this.
2 Go to commentsCould have been a different result but yet again French tv able to affect the result by not showing the very clear high shot on harlequin centre if this would have been on a French player would have been on screen at least five times
3 Go to commentsAmazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
4 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
2 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
3 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to comments