Sydney – New Zealand got their Rugby Championship campaign off to a superb start when they claimed a 54-34 victory over Australia in Sydney on Saturday. 

In a fast-paced encounter, in which both sides stayed true to their attacking roots, the All Blacks’ superior game management – especially in the first half – laid the groundwork to this win and they eventually outscored the Wallabies seven to four. 

The world champions held a 40-6 lead at the interval courtesy of two tries apiece from Rieko Ioane and Ryan Crotty as well as further five-pointers from Liam Squire and Sonny Bill Williams.

Those 40 points were the most conceded by the Wallabies in the first half of a Test against the All Blacks. 

There was plenty of ahead of this match after New Zealand teams won all 26 matches against their Australian counterparts in Super Rugby this year and the All Blacks’ performance went a long way to justify that hype. They blew their hosts away with a clinical display during that first half although the Wallabies fought back bravely during the second half. 

Australia were fastest out of the blocks and were soon camped inside New Zealand’s 22 after taking the ball through 14 phases. The All Blacks strayed offside on defence and Bernard Foley opened the scoring in the fourth minute by slotting the resulting three-pointer from the kicking tee.

It did not take long for the world champions to strike back though and in the 10th minute, Squire rounded off after Beauden Barrett, Brodie Retallick and Kieran Read impressed with slick handling in the build-up. 

Foley narrowed the gap to a point, when he added his second penalty in the 17th minute, but that was the last time the home side would score points during the half. 

In the 18th minute, Ioane rounded Israel Folau with a superb turn of speed before crossing in the left-hand corner. The All Black flyer had his second try three minutes later after gathering a pass from Crotty, who intercepted a wayward Wallaby pass on the halfway line. 

The rest of the half was a procession and tries from Williams and Crotty meant Steve Hansen’s charges had their tails up as the teams changed sides at the interval. 

New Zealand continued to dominate during the early stages of the second half and shortly after the restart Barrett intercepted a Folau pass before getting a pass out to Ioane just inside the Wallabies’ half. 

He still had work to do and after rounding one defender, he offloaded to Damian McKenzie who cantered in for his first Test try. 

And five minutes later, Liam Squire set off on a barnstorming run which took him into the Wallabies’ 22. He was eventually brought to ground, but after taking the ball through another couple of phases, Ben Smith dotted down next to the posts – Barrett’s seventh conversion giving the All Blacks’ a 54-6 lead. 

To their credit, the Wallabies did not surrender and in the 51st minute Curtis Rona got over for a try on his Test debut after running onto a well-timed pass from Foley close to New Zealand’s try-line.

With the game in the bag, the All Blacks rung the changes and it will be a concern for their coach, Steve Hansen, that the intensity levels dropped in his side after he brought on his replacements.

That try from Rona was followed by another five-pointer from Tevita Kuridrani, who barged over the whitewash after gathering a flat pass from Folau.

And on the hour-mark, TJ Perenara threw a loose pass 10 metres inside his half which Kurtley Beale gathered before outpacing the cover defence on his way over the try-line. 

Folau eventually got his name onto the scoresheet in the 68th minute when he crossed for his side’s fourth try after finding himself in space just outside the All Blacks’ 22. 

And although the Wallabies finished stronger, they know their first half performance left a lot to be desired and they will be determined to improve on that effort when these sides meet in Dunedin next weekend.

Scorers: 

Australia

Tries: Rona, Kuridrani, Beale, Folau

Conversions: Foley 4

Pens: Foley 2

New Zealand

Tries: Squire, Ioane 2, Crotty 2, Williams, McKenzie, Smith

Conversions: Barrett

Teams:

Australia

15 Israel Folau, 14 Henry Speight, 13 Samu Kerevi, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Curtis Rona, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia, 8 Sean McMahon, 7 Michael Hooper (captain), 6 Ned Hanigan, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Rory Arnold, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 Scott Sio

Substitutes: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Tom Robertson, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Lopeti Timani, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Reece Hodge, 23 Tevita Kuridrani

New Zealand

15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Ryan Crotty, 12 Sonny Bill Williams, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (captain), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Liam Squire, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Joe Moody

Substitutes: 16 Nathan Harris, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 19 Luke Romano, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Lima Sopoaga, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown

Cape Town – Australia captain Michael Hooper has dismissed rumours that his squad is out of form and unfit going into the Rugby Championship opener against the All Blacks in Sydney on Saturday.

Only one Australian team made it to the quarter-finals of Super Rugby this season, therefore a large chunk of the Wallabies squad has not played competitively for quite some time.

Wallabies head coach Michael Cheika held training camps with his squad in Newcastle and Cessnock. The focus was to get the team fit and match ready for the All Blacks, who had four teams in the quarter-finals with the Crusaders going on to win the title.

Hooper, the now full-time skipper in place of Stephen Moore, is pleased with the progress his team has made going into the tournament.

“We’ve seen some really good improvements, immeasurable fitness (gains), during the couple of camps we’ve had,” the flanker told AAP.

“But more than that, some really good mental fitness as well.

“It’s one thing being able to make your targets; it’s another being able to push to get better than what your target is and I think we’ve developed that.

“You would have heard ‘Cheik’ saying ‘guys have learnt how to work hard’ and we’ve definitely achieved that over the course of the last three weeks.”

Australia last won the Bledisloe Cup in 2002. They have only won 12 compared to the All Blacks, who have a staggering 44 titles. Hooper is still confident that his charges can match New Zealand.

“There’s obviously ways they play the game, but every team that plays has weaknesses,” he said.

“They give you a lot of ball, but it’s also one of their strengths. You can make the most of it.

“They’re just a very good team at continually delivering the same picture.

“So to break them down, we’ve got some plans around that and it’s about doing it more consistently than them.”

Cape Town – The Springboks have suffered an injury setback with news that prop Frans Malherbe is set to miss Saturday’s Rugby Championship opener against Argentina in Port Elizabeth.

Team doctor Konrad von Hagen told Netwerk24 that Malherbe has been complaining about a sore neck since last Thursday.

The player will undergo further tests but is unlikely to be available for Saturday’s Test against Los Pumas.

Malherbe’s absence will leave the Boks in a spot of bother at tighthead, as Ruan Dreyer, who will soon become a father, is not with the squad.

This means Coenie Oosthuizen and Trevor Nyakane, who both previously played loosehead prop, could be required to start at tighthead.

The other front-rankers in the Springbok squad – Steven Kitshoff, Tendai Mtawarira and Lizo Gqoboka – are all looseheads.

The crisis at tighthead could prompt coach Allister Coetzee to call-up Stormers tighthead Wilco Louw, who featured for the SA ‘A’ side in the two-game series against the French Barbarians in June.

Meanwhile, scrumhalf Ross Cronje faces a fitness test as he is still recovering from shoulder and chest injuries sustained in the Super Rugby final.

Flyhalf Handre Pollard is making progress in his recovery from an ankle injury, but will not be considered this weekend.

Saturday’s Test at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium is scheduled for 17:05.

Cape Town – Springbok scrum coach Matt Proudfoot praised the intensity and focus of the Springbok squad in Port Elizabeth as they continue with preparations for next week’s Rugby Championship opening Test against Argentina.

Proudfoot and Bok vice-captain Siya Kolisi spoke to the media on Friday shortly after the group completed another impressive field training session at the Nelson Mandel Bay Stadium.

Proudfoot said the coaching staff is very pleased with the results and effort of the first training week, adding that the squad is already benefitting from spending an extra week together in camp.

“The players have been fantastic all week long during training and the coaches are really proud of the way they have prepared, and their excellent effort so far,” said Proudfoot.

“It is fantastic to see how well the players get along with each other, taking into account that they’ve just come out of a tough Super Rugby season and makes it so rewarding to have an extra week to prepare,” according to the Boks’ scrum coach.

“We are well aware of the Pumas’ strong points and have done a lot of preparation,” he added.

“We know they’ve had a lot of time to prepare and the nice thing for them is that their whole squad is together in Argentina. However, we must not be under the illusion that it’s the same side that played Super Rugby,” cautioned Proudfoot.

“They’re a total different side when they pull on that white and blue jersey – they put a lot of pride into that jersey, and also the way they play. The Pumas will be a formidable side and we must prepare for a very tough contest.”

Flanker Kolisi missed the first day of training on Tuesday because of an ankle niggle but he was back in training action towards the end of the week.

“I was still doing rehab earlier in the week but have since started with full-on training again with the boys,” said the loose forward.

He is delighted to be back in PE, the place where his rugby journey started.

“I must admit I am very excited to be back in my hometown and looking forward to the rest of our preparations. I know how much the people of the Eastern Cape enjoy their rugby and also appreciate the fact that the Boks are here for two weeks.”

Cape Town – An inspired attacking display from Griquas saw them shock Western Province with a 44-34 Currie Cup win in Kimberley on Wednesday. 

Province had started as overwhelming favourites, but in the end Griquas scored five tries to secure their first win of the season. 

WP also scored five tries.

A strong start by the hosts saw them cruise to a 17-3 lead, but Western Province hit back with two tries of their own to go into the break 17-15 down. 

It looked like Province were going to pull away as they took the lead in the second half, but the Griquas attack was always dangerous and they got their reward for some brave decisions to run from deep. 

The result means that WP slip down to sixth on the Currie Cup log while Griquas move up to fourth.

Scorers:

Griquas 44 (17)

Tries: Liam Hendricks, Ederies Arendse, Renier Botha, Tiaan Dorfling, Wendel Wehr

Conversions: Andre Swarts (5)

Penalties: Swarts, George Whitehead (2)

WP 34 (15)

Tries: Nizaam Carr, Bjorn Basson, Seabelo Senatla, Kurt Coleman, SP Marais

Conversions: Coleman (2), Damian Willemse

Penalty: Willemse