New Zealand scrum-half Cam Roigard made a brilliant return from injury as the All Blacks beat Australia 33-24 in the Rugby Championship to retain the Bledisloe Cup at Eden Park.
Caleb Clarke, Leroy Carter, and Roigard all scored tries to give the All Blacks an early advantage with a 17-point lead.
New Zealand scored after only four minutes through Clarke, who was playing his first Test of the year, and he touched down in the left corner at the end of a long backline with full-back Will Jordan up as the extra man.
Australia came back strong in the second quarter with tries from hooker Billy Pollard and winger Harry Potter cutting New Zealand’s lead to 20-17 at half-time.
New Zealand continued to fight, edging 26-17 ahead with penalties at the start of the second half before Australia’s Carlo Tizzano crossed to leave them only two points behind.
New Zealand’s Cortez Ratima (left) and Quinn Tupaea (right) celebrate with the Bledisloe Cup
Roigard scored again to seal New Zealand’s win, taking his side back to the top of the Rugby Championship table ahead of South Africa’s meeting with Argentina in Durban later on Saturday, live on Sky Sports.
Australia last held the Bledisloe Cup in 2003. The teams meet again next week in Perth but the Wallabies had to win both matches to secure the Bledisloe Cup.
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New Zealand suffered a record-breaking defeat to South Africa in their previous Rugby Championship fixture
“There was a lot of hurt from the South Africa match,” Roigard said.
“We knew that standard wasn’t good enough and we knew we had to put out a performance defending the fortress [Eden Park]. To get the job done we knew it was going to take the whole 80 minutes.”
