Australia 7-38 New Zealand: All Blacks hammer Wallabies in Melbourne to secure 2023 Rugby Championship title
Shannon Frizell, Codie Taylor, Will Jordan, Caleb Clarke, Mark Telea and Rieko Ioane all scored tries as New Zealand secured their fourth Rugby Championship title in a row and 20th since 1996 with victory over Australia in front of a huge crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
By Michael Cantillon
Last Updated: 29/07/23 6:52pm
The All Blacks secured their fourth Rugby Championship title in successive years, as they proved too strong and clinical for Australia in a 38-7 win at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Played in front of nearly 84,000 fans - the largest crowd to attend a rugby union match in Australia since the 2003 World Cup - New Zealand scored six tries through back-row Shannon Frizell, hooker Codie Taylor, wing Will Jordan, replacement back Caleb Clarke, wing Mark Telea and centre Rieko Ioane.
Richie Mo'unga also added four conversions with the boot, with Australia's sole try coming through No 8 Rob Valetini in a first half in which they led for the majority.
Australia 7-38 New Zealand - Score summary
Australia - Tries: Valetini (7). Cons: Gordon (8).
New Zealand - Tries: Frizell (3), Taylor (34), Jordan (40+2), Clarke (59), Telea (64), Ioane (67). Cons: Mo'unga (35, 43, 61, 68).
The hosts lost Marika Koroibete and Taniela Tupou to very costly sin-binnings in each half, as the All Blacks' incredible grip on this competition continued, winning their 20th title since 1996.
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New Zealand hit the front as early as the third minute, as after a clever tactical kick into the corner from scrum-half Aaron Smith pinned Australia by their own try-line, scrum-half Tate McDermott was smashed by Scott Barrett, allowing Frizell to ground the loose ball in-goal for a gift of a try.
The Wallabies responded well, as lively wing Mark Nawaqanitawase got them going in attack with a lovely break, setting them through 11 phases in the All Blacks 22, before Valetini dived under the posts. Referee Wayne Barnes missed the initial grounding, but on review with the TMO, the try was awarded despite the suspicion of a double movement.
Young Australia 10 Carter Gordon converted for a 7-5 lead, but soon missed a straightforward penalty which should have extended his side's advantage, before the All Blacks had a potential Telea try ruled out after a TMO review proved he failed to connect with the boot upon taking a quick-tap penalty.
Koroibete was sin-binned in the incident, however, for a blatant offside, and with six minutes left of the first half, the All Blacks took full advantage as Taylor touched down at the back of a well-formed maul.
Two minutes into dead time at the end of the first half, New Zealand then blew open the scoreline after what had been a fairly event contest: rumbling through 21 phases in the Australia 22, puncturing at the Wallabies line, before releasing it out wide for Jordan to race forward and dive to score in a huge blow for the hosts.
Into the second half, Australia dominated possession and territory for the first 18 minutes, but failed to make a breakthrough as Ardie Savea produced a phenomenal breakdown turnover on top of his own try-line, and two further rolling mauls were stopped and forced unplayable.
Tupou's yellow card for a high tackle on Nepo Laulala opened the door for the All Blacks to attack again, and they took ruthless advantage as Clarke dipped his head and drove over the line to score.
Four minutes later, Telea got in on the act as Jordan, having already scored one, made one, as he managed to offload the ball out to the right wing while seemingly surrounded for his opposite wing to dive in.
From the restart, the All Blacks then scored the try of the Test as Scott Barrett got things going in an end-to-end attack filled with offloads which eventually saw Ioane finish a magnificent team move.
No further points were added, with these sides facing one another again next week in the second Bledisloe Cup clash outside of the Rugby Championship, where Eddie Jones will hope his side can put an 80-minute performance together in the lead-up to September's Rugby World Cup in France.
Rugby Championship fixtures and results 2023
- Round 1: South Africa 43-12 Australia - Saturday, July 8
- Round 1: Argentina 12-41 New Zealand - Saturday, July 8
- Round 2: New Zealand 35-20 South Africa - Saturday, July 15
- Round 2: Australia 31-34 Argentina - Saturday, July 15
- Round 3: Australia 7-38 New Zealand - Saturday, July 29
- Round 3: South Africa vs Argentina - Saturday, July 29