#eden-park

#eden-park

New Zealand were the Rugby Championship's fastest starters and Australia the slowest. So for the Wallabies to be 13-3 down after 15 minutes surprised few. The men in black were red hot from the get-go, moving with cohesion and precision, each pass and kick a dagger. Australia were back-pedalling, making mistakes, losing collisions. Caleb Clarke had cried through the anthems but his tears had dried in time to finish a slick catch and pass in the fourth minute.

If it's the hope that kills you then Wallabies fans have been dying a slow death for 39 years at Eden Park, the venue for this Saturday's first Test of the Bledisloe Cup. The Auckland venue is the All Blacks' fortress. They have not lost there since 1994 and are unbeaten across 51 Tests (49 wins, two draws). No Australian team has won at Eden Park since the 1986 side led by Andrew Slack and coached by Alan Jones.

Two well-taken tries by Emoni Narawa and Will Jordan set up a 14-3 lead at half-time before Quinn Tupaea grabbed a third five-pointer for the hosts 13 minutes from time. Well-held for most of the night, the Springboks rallied with second-half tries to Malcolm Marx and Cobus Reinach to pull within a converted try but the All Blacks held on, with Ardie Savea making a heroic turnover in his 100th test to seal the win.