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The Wallabies’ torturous Bledisloe Cup drought will drag on for an 11th year after the All Blacks once again proved themselves more powerful and clinical in an 27-16 triumph at Westpac Stadium.
Despite a highly-promising opening in Wellington, Australia paid the price for poor one-on-one defence and an outgunned scrum for their second defeat in a week to the world champions.
Two Ben Smith tries in the last 13 minutes of the first half, including a sucker punch on halftime, turned the tide of the match and the Wallabies never recovered as they struggled to play catch-up.
Australia once again failed to get star winger Israel Folau into the match but he did give a late glimmer of hope with a 75m intercept try, before New Zealand iced the result with their fifth penalty goal.
It was the Wallabies’ 15th straight loss to NZ across the Tasman dating back to 2001 and means the third Test in Dunedin in two months will be a series dead rubber.
The All Blacks’ series victory celebrations were given extra fizz with grizzled prop Tony Woodcock playing in his 100th Test.
Woodcock played a key role against Wallabies scrum anchor Ben Alexander who was also guilty of costly errors around the ground.
It was a slightly improved performance from their 47-19 first Test loss last weekend in Sydney, especially in the opening 25 minutes when they threw plenty at the home side to jump to a 6-0 lead, and feel unlucky not to be ahead by more.
The All Blacks were fortunate not to have Ma’a Nonu sin-binned for a 20th-minute shoulder charge on James Slipper, while No.8 Kieran Read could have been yellow-carded for a cynical professional foul at the ruck after a 40m break by Christian Lealiifano.
Australia played far more direct and continued to unsettle the All Blacks lineout for more first-half possession but couldn’t finish off.
In contrast, it was all too easy for the All Blacks when they had possession in dangerous positions.
Smith’s first try came after Read claimed a midfield bomb and then the Wallabies were caught short with quick hands down the right side.
The winger’s second resulted from Nonu buckling a Matt Toomua tackle and then stand-out flanker Steven Luatau running through Alexander, and gave his side a 15-6 lead at the break.
Australia should have been ahead 9-7 after half an hour if not for a dubious overturned penalty 30m out straight in front which hurt Australia’s momentum.
But they shot themselves in the foot in promising positions for the rest of the match, highlighted by an inability to finish off a 70m break by James O’Connor just after halftime.
With the backline set but ignored, Alexander was penalised for not releasing after a series of bash-and-barge pick and goes from the ensuing penalty and driving maul.
It told of the tale of Australia’s attacking woes.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.