1-MIN READ

New Zealand Beats Australia To Once Again Win Bledisloe Cup

Australia's Noah Lolesio, centre, celebrates after scoring his team's first try during the Bledisloe rugby test between the All Blacks and the Wallabies at Stadium Australia, Sydney, Australia, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Australia's Noah Lolesio, centre, celebrates after scoring his team's first try during the Bledisloe rugby test between the All Blacks and the Wallabies at Stadium Australia, Sydney, Australia, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2020. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

New Zealand beat Australia 435 in a rugby union test match to clinch the Bledisloe Cup for an 18th straight year.

  • Last Updated: October 31, 2020, 17:30 IST

SYDNEY: New Zealand beat Australia 43-5 in a rugby union test match to clinch the Bledisloe Cup for an 18th straight year.

The All Blacks scored six tries to one, with flyhalf and man-of-the-match Richie Mounga scoring two tries and notching 23 points himself as the All Blacks took an unbeatable lead in the four-game series.

Wallabies coach Dave Rennie handed test debuts to flyhalf Noah Lolesio and inside center Irae Simone, marking the first time in 73 years that Australia started a rookie combination at those positions against the All Blacks.

But the move didn’t go well, with Mounga overwhelming Lolesio as the All Blacks took a 26-0 halftime lead.

Were hurting a lot from that, Wallabies captain Michael Hooper said. Its a hit to the confidence now. Weve got to go back and look at sticking to our game plan.

They were very clinical. They played the conditions really well, jumped on a lot of loose ball. I just dont think we were accurate. So again giving away possession too easily and then we didnt kick smart.”

The match was also the first in the Tri-Nations tournament which also includes Argentina.

In an action-packed 20 minutes of play, New Zealand winger Jordie Barrett was sent to the sin-bin for elbowing Wallabies fullback Dane Haylett-Petty. Then the All Blacks were denied two tries in four minutes.

First, hooker Dane Coles was deemed to have knocked the ball on over the line after showing great foot speed to reel in Moungas probing cross-field kick. Then Marika Koroibete forced Clarke dead in goal with a brilliant trysaver.

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

Mounga was in again shortly after when he collected a hip kick from Beauden Barrett and raced 70 meters to score.

They were terrific, Rennie said. We were poles apart tonight . . . the quality of their kicking game, the quality of their skill-set, we just really battled to deal with.

New Zealand and Australia play again next Saturday in Brisbane.

___

More AP sports: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports


Next Story