1
Match Highlights - All Blacks take Bledisloe 1
By Peter Thompson
Jack Goodhue scored a brilliant debut try as New Zealand came from behind to seal a 38-13 Bledisloe Cup victory over Australia in a breathless Rugby Championship opener at ANZ Stadium.
Goodhue made the most of his opportunity in the absence of Sonny Bill Williams, slotting in seamlessly and rising to the occasion after his fellow centre Ryan Crotty suffered an early injury.
Penalties from Reece Hodge and Bernard Foley gave the Wallabies a 6-0 lead, but Aaron Smith's try on the stroke of half-time reduced the deficit to just a point in Sydney.
The defending champions then turned on the style in the second half. Goodhue and Beauden Barrett scored superb tries before Brodie Retallick went over and Waisake Naholo claimed a late double as Steve Hansen's men ran away with it.
Barrett showed why he remains the All Blacks' first-choice fly-half, pulling the strings in Sam Whitelock's 100th appearance for the world champions.
Jack Maddocks marked his international debut by scoring Australia's only try, but they were unable to pull off a repeat of their win over their trans-Tasman rivals last October and also lost Israel Folau to what appeared to be an ankle injury.
Trending on RugbyPass
2
Banned ex-Springbok Elton Jantjies breaks his silence
3
Three Springboks, three All Blacks named in L’Equipe's Best XV 2024
4
Warren Gatland's Wales to move on Prem scrum coach
5
Latest Comments
Liverpool? OK, whatever you say 🤷♂️ You spelt Syringeboks wrong, need to calm down a bit and wipe the tears from your eyes.
Go to commentsThat absolute BS, when did you come up with this idea?
All three were well on track to being All Blacks. They simply decided it was smarter to take the money right now rather than slog on for another 3 or 4 years waiting for their opportunity to line up.
Many AB quality players have not even got the chance to earn a cap for heavens sake, it is simply as you suggest elsewhere, better utilization of global talent to have them qualify for another nation.
The only problem is that the ABs get all the best players, mostly because they pay more, and the island nations, even the home nations, just get those that can't make it or want a bit more limelight.
Go to comments