The Wallabies say they wasted their chances in a 50-19 defeat by the All Blacks at Eden Park, a result that keeps the Bledisloe Cup in New Zealand for a 24th consecutive year. Fullback Tom Wright said in Sydney on Monday that the squad met on Sunday morning and “faced the music a little bit” over the scoreline. Wright said the result had to be accepted quickly, with a second Test only days away.
Australia were competitive for 40 minutes and trailed only 17-14 at half-time. The second half went badly wrong. New Zealand scored five tries to one after the break, and a key moment came early in the half when Australia won a line-out deep in New Zealand territory. The All Blacks chose not to contest it and set up to stop the driving maul, Australia conceded a penalty, New Zealand cleared their 22 and moved upfield, and scrum-half Cam Roigard scored in the 48th minute.
The aerial contest was one-sided. New Zealand regained 8 of their 11 contestable kicks, and Roigard won back all six of his own. Australia could not compete in the air even with wingers Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Max Jorgensen on the field. That was a reversal from late last month in Perth, where the Wallabies won the kick battle in a 42-38 victory over the world champion Springboks.
Wright described the Test as a game of moments and admitted the side lacked discipline when it reached the New Zealand line. He said the second half started well before a run of setbacks built on each other, and that the All Blacks had applied pressure in the way Australia had done in earlier matches. “We squandered a couple of chances,” he said, while accepting that nobody wants to concede 50 points. The loss ended a six-match unbeaten run that had raised hopes of a breakthrough in Auckland.
The record remains stark. Australia have now lost 12 Tests in a row against New Zealand, have not beaten them at Eden Park since 1986 and have not held the Bledisloe Cup since 2003. The two sides meet again on Saturday at Stadium Australia in Sydney. The trophy is no longer at stake, but Wright said the review was complete and the squad’s focus had turned to ending the losing run.
