All Blacks survive physical Italy scare after captain carded

The final Test of the All Blacks' season saw them face an Italian side on the rise in what would be as physical of a contest the Kiwis have faced in 2024.

It was a scrappy contest in near-freezing conditions in Italy, but Scott Robertson's side brought down the curtain on a mammoth 2024 campaign and two iconic All Blacks careers with a 29-11 win.

An untidy start from both sides saw possession swing back and forth with handling errors and lineout steals frustrating both coaching boxes.

A superb 50/22 from Martin Page-Relo put Italy in prime attacking position, and an Ardie Savea breakdown infringement offered Paolo Garbisi a chance at an early three-point lead.

New Zealand had the upper hand in the aerial battle, winning the early contests, but Italy were immense defensively, winning the physical battle and making a mess of New Zealand's rucks, quickly dismissing any resemblance of momentum.

The All Blacks levelled the scoreboard through Beauden Barrett's boot, but Garbisi had his side back in front within a minute after Rieko Ioane claimed the kickoff behind a forward pod, obstructing the incoming tacklers.

Down three, the All Blacks then lost their captain Scott Barrett to a yellow card. The lock was guilty of a croc-roll.

Despite being down a man, the All Blacks looked more sound as the game's second quarter began and some Cam Roigard magic split the Italian defence through the shadow of a maul and scored the first try of the game.

The All Blacks started to make breaks but the resilient Italian defence proved up to the task in broken play, with desperate tackles made on New Zealand's fastest athletes.

With halftime closing in and back to their full complement, the All Blacks finally capitalised on one of their advances and who else but Will Jordan to spy the gap in the defence to claim his 38th Test try.

The seven points pushed the New Zealand lead to 17-6, perhaps a scoreline that flattered the visitors after a 100-tackle opening 40 minutes from the Italians, with 10 dominant tackles to boast.

The arm wrestle continued in the second half, and New Zealand's discipline again came under the microscope, with a referee's warning dished out before Anton Lienert-Brown was yellow carded for ripping the ball after being instructed to release.

The Azzurri's defence held strong after many All Blacks barrages, but the scrum continued to struggle and Simone Ferrari was handed a yellow card shortly after New Zealand had their 15th man back on the field.

Sam Cane departed the field and the international arena to a chorus of ovation from the Turin crowd, with many on their feet to farewell the former All Blacks captain and Test centurion.

It wasn't pretty, but as the clock ticked into the 70th minute, the All Blacks managed to get the ball wide off the back of another strong scrum and eventually found the waiting hands of Mark Tele'a who touched down in the corner. Beauden Barrett made it four from four off the tee.

After 75 minutes of character from Italy, the hosts finally got the reward for their efforts with a flying try to Tommaso Menoncello, accompanied by a roar from the Turin faithful.

Just as it looked like the hosts would have the final say, Beauden Barrett received a scrappy clearance kick and spied some space down the sideline, running from just outside the Italian 22 for a try to sign, seal and deliver New Zealand's 14th win of the season to the tune of 29-11.

The final whistle was blown and while it was a far cry from the 96-17 drubbing in last year's World Cup, New Zealand did farewell Sam Cane and TJ Perenara with a hard-fought victory.