SYDNEY (AP) — The high-tempo, breadth-of-the-field game New Zealand hoped to produce in a losing effort in South Africa came to life in Australia on Saturday when the All Blacks beat the Wallabies 43-21 to sweep the Bledisloe Cup rugby series 2-0.
After the first 12 minutes were frenetic but scoreless, New Zealand scored six tries and conceded one to lead 36-7 by halftime and to take the match away from Australia.
New Zealand, which lost the test series in South Africa 3-1, also scored the first try of the second half but the Wallabies fought back strongly and created a momentum shift which saw them score two tries to one after the break.
“The way we came out in that first half was great,” All Blacks captain Codie Taylor said. "It was a real challenge for us to make sure we backed up a really good performance last week.
“I thought we were awesome in that first 40, backing ourselves and playing what was in front, but that second 40 was a bit different.”
In the first half, scrumhalf Cam Roigard conducted the All Blacks' superbly, switching the attack left and right to twist and bend the Wallabies' defense while Damian McKenzie picked out runners with short passes to create line breaks.
When the line was broken, the New Zealand support game kicked in with ruthless efficiency and multiple passes led to tries that dizzied defenders. Hooker Codie Taylor and backrowers Peter Lakai and Wallace Sititi were strong runners with the ball and fullback Beauden Barrett regularly inserted himself into the backline and had two tries by halftime.
Lakai and Rieko Ioane also scored first-half tries and lock Fabian Holland put in a huge shift with 21 tackles.
The Wallabies' attacking efforts generally were enveloped in swarming All Blacks defense or undone by errors of handling or passing. But they scored tries through lock Jeremy Williams in the first half and fullback Tom Wright and Filipo Daugunu in the second.
Williams made a detour to the sin-bin shortly after his try and the All Blacks exploited the numerical advantage when Sititi scored from the back of a dominant scrum.
Barrett completed his double with an intercept try on the tick of halftime and winger Josh Moorby who scored New Zealand's first try, also scored the first try of the second half after only two minutes, making the score 43-7.
New Zealand then seemed on the verge of consecutive 50-point scorelines against Australia after winning the first test 50-19 in Auckland last weekend. But there was significant shift in the second half.
The All Blacks had been forced to make a late backline change when influential center Jordie Barrett suffered a calf injury short before the match. They then lost Barrett's midfield partner Quinn Tupaea to a failed head injury after only four minutes.
Those setbacks didn't affect the fluency of the All Blacks' attack in the first half but their combination become less easy in the second half as replacements took the field and injuries and fatigue took their toll.
Winger Max Jorgensen again was Australia's best back and his elusive run along the right touch led to Wright's try. Daugunu's length of the field effort completed a 14-7 second half for Australia.
“I'm gutted. When you give a team like the All Blacks a head start it's tough and it's not good enough from this group,” Wallabies captain Harry Wilson said. “We've got to be a lot better.”
The men’s game was part of a four-match day for spectators at the former Olympic stadium in Sydney. In a women’s 15-a-side match, Australia beat Scotland 56-12 as part of the WXV Global Series. The Australian men’s sevens team drew 19-19 with two-time Olympic champions Fiji and the Australian women’s sevens side lost 21-12 to New Zealand.
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