New Zealand beat Australia despite late fight back to retain ...

New Zealand lurched from imperious to unconvincing as they survived an almighty scare to hold off Australia and retain the Bledisloe Cup despite two late yellow cards in Sydney.

The visitors waltzed into a 21-0 lead within 15 minutes, capitalising on tentative defence and handling errors from the Wallabies to score attractive tries through Will Jordan, Rieko Ioane and Caleb Clarke.

Fraser McReight replied thanks to a clever line-out move but the All Blacks maintained point-per-minute pace when Sevu Reece shot out of the defensive line to force a fumble before releasing Ardie Savea.

Matt Faessler bundled over off the back of a maul to keep the Wallabies in the contest, and the scoreline stayed at 28-14 after Jordie Barrett’s finish was chalked off due to a knock-on.

In truth, that advantage could have been heavier and, following a McKenzie penalty, New Zealand had another try disallowed early in the second half. The 80-metre movement was called back for a forward pass from McKenzie to Jordan.

Inspired by Harry Wilson and McReight, Australia had already begun to assert themselves. Lukhan Salakaia-Loto added dynamism from the bench too, as New Zealand’s habit of sloppy second halves continued from their time in South Africa.

Hunter Paisami darted over from close range, capping an attack that saw Anton Lienert-Brown sin-binned, before Clarke received the same sanction from referee Karl Dickson for batting down a pass out wide. Tom Wright’s 79th-minute try reduced the gap to 31-28 and will have had Scott Robertson dumbfounded in the coaches’ box.

In the end, a suspiciously upright tackle from Savea and TJ Perenara brought the turnover that allowed the All Blacks to escape. The teams reconvene in Wellington next weekend and the Wallabies, having endured a nightmarish first quarter that will have stirred memories of their 67-27 shellacking in Argentina, can feel hopeful.

Australia: T. Wright, Kellaway, Ikitau, Paisami, Koroibete, Lolesio, White, Bell, Faessler, Tupou, Frost, Williams, Valetini, McReight, Wilson.
Replacements: Paenga-Amosa, Slipper, Alaalatoa, Salakaia-Loto, Gleeson, McDermott, Lynagh, Pietsch.
New Zealand: B. Barrett, Jordan, Ioane, J. Barrett, Clarke, McKenzie, Ratima, de Groot, Taylor, Lomax, S. Barrett, Vaa’i, Sititi, Cane, Savea.
Replacements: Aumua, Williams, Tosi, Darry, Jacobson, Perenara, Liernert-Brown, Reece.
Referee: Karl Dickson (RFU)