All Blacks thrash Australia to retain the Bledisloe Cup

New Zealand retained the Bledisloe Cup after a convincing 43-5 hammering of Australia in what was also the start of the Tri-Nations Championship.

New Zealand ran in six tries to one with first five Richie Mo’unga bagging a brilliant brace and a 23-point personal haul as the All Blacks went up 2-0 in the Bledisloe Cup to secure the trophy for the 18th straight year.

There were test debuts for Noah Lolesio and Irae Simone in the starting line up for the Wallabies while Tate McDermott and Fraser McReight made their debuts via the bench. 

Only two minutes in and Australia were down to 14 players after Filipo Daugunu was sin-binned after taking Caleb Clarke out in the air and New Zealand did not take long to capitalised as Karl Tuinukuafe powered over for the opening try to lead 7-0.

The All Blacks were then also reduced to 14 players with a yellow card to Jordie Barrett for leading with his forearm into contact after 5 minutes.

This did not slow Ian Foster's men down as they were denied twice by the TMO, the first a superb cross-kick from Richie Mounga which Dane Coles failed to ground and the second a great cover tackle from Marika Koroibete to deny Caleb Clarke in the corner. 

Denied ‼️#AUSvNZL #BledisloeCup pic.twitter.com/vOn7UNVpo2

— Ultimate Rugby (@ultimaterugby) October 31, 2020

How is this for a try line tackle? 🔥#AUSvNZL #BledisloeCup pic.twitter.com/oA6XUuNYeh

— Ultimate Rugby (@ultimaterugby) October 31, 2020

The All Blacks would eventually cross for their second score midway through the first half after some individual brilliance from Richie Mounga to make it 12-0.

Mo'unga he threw a dummy and sprinted through two defenders before rounding Noah Lolesio to score.

Fantastic from Mo'unga 👌#AUSvNZL #BledisloeCup pic.twitter.com/d6ygLX0ypi

— Ultimate Rugby (@ultimaterugby) October 31, 2020

Five minutes later and the All Blacks were in again as a brilliant little chip ahead from Beauden Barrett sat up perfectly into the arms of Mounga who raced in for his double to extend the lead out to 19-0. It was all New Zealand as they bagged their fourth try around the half hour mark, Dane Coles the beneficiary at the back of a powerful maul. It could have gone from bad to worse for the Wallabies as Daugunu failed to gather a box kick from Aaron Smith in the final minute of the half which popped into the arms of Mounga who raced into the 22 only to trip, with his offload for Jack Goodhue going forward. 26-0 All Blacks at halftime after a thoroughly dominant first half performance.

Barrett and Mo’unga 😍#BledisloeCup #AUSvNZL

pic.twitter.com/mYeSg8NoYY

— Ultimate Rugby (@ultimaterugby) October 31, 2020

Australia needed a reaction and started the second half in ideal fashion as a charging break from Jordan Petaia saw Noah Lolesio run a superb line to crash over just two minutes in to get Australia on the board. The game finally settled for a period of time, with the next points coming off the boot of Richie Mounga who slotted a penalty midway through the second half to make it 29-5.

TRY TIME for the Debut man! #AUSvNZL #BledisloeCup pic.twitter.com/KdUVIpOZjQ

— Ultimate Rugby (@ultimaterugby) October 31, 2020

Into the final ten minutes and a scrum just 5m out saw Hoskins Sotutu carry off the back and send Rieko Ioane over in the corner for the All Blacks fifth try. A sixth New Zealand try would follow almost immediately, with Jordie Barrett running a beautiful line to slice open the Wallabies defence and race in to make it 43-5. Shannon Frizell would pick up a late yellow card for a high tackle, but it would matter little as New Zealand wrapped up the Bledisloe Cup with a record margin of victory of 38 points (previously 37).