New Zealand yesterday snapped a two-game losing streak with a nail-biting 31-28 win over Australia, holding off a second-half charge to retain the Bledisloe Cup.
Both sides scored four tries on a warm Sydney afternoon as the All Blacks rebounded from consecutive Rugby Championship defeats against world champions South Africa.
New Zealand took a commanding 28-14 lead into the break and, despite Australia storming back into contention, held on to retain a trophy they have owned since 2003, dominating possession, set plays and the breakdown.
Photo: AFP
The writing was on the wall with New Zealand winning their past seven Tests against Australia, heaping more pressure on Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt, whose side were humiliated 67-27 in Argentina two weeks ago.
Despite the fightback, it proved a disappointing way for prop James Slipper to celebrate becoming the most capped Wallaby with his 140th appearance, surpassing former captain George Gregan.
The victory elevated New Zealand above Los Pumas into second on the Rugby Championship ladder, with one game left against Australia, who prop up the table, in Wellington next week.
Photo: AFP
Argentina were to host the table-topping Springboks after press time last night.
New Zealand coach Scott Robertson made a handful of changes after their nerve-racking 18-12 loss in Cape Town two weeks ago, but veteran Beauden Barrett was ruled out with illness an hour before kick-off.
It meant Will Jordan moved to fullback and Sevu Reece came in on the wing.
Photo: AFP
Australia also switched things up, with Nic White and Noah Lolesio thrust in as the halves pairing, while center Hunter Paisami and fullback Tom Wright returned from injury.
It made little difference with the hosts exposed inside two minutes when Jordan sliced open the defense to dot down between the posts, with Damian McKenzie adding the extras. The All Blacks kept their foot to the floor and raced 14-0 clear after nine minutes with center Reiko Ioane collecting their second try in a move stemming from a break by Caleb Clarke.
Australia were bereft of ideas and Clarke powered over in the corner for the visitors’ third.
New Zealand momentarily went to sleep and Nic White exploded into a hole before offloading for Fraser McReight to dive over and finally give the 68,061-strong at Sydney Olympic Stadium something to cheer about, but All Blacks skipper Ardie Savea sprinted over for another try in the 24th minute after a sloppy Australian spoon pass was picked up by Reece, who drew the defender to leave his teammate in plenty of space.
With McKenzie nailing a fourth straight conversion, they moved into an ominous 28-7 lead.
The Wallabies, though, kept plugging away and were rewarded when hooker Matt Faessler charged over after some good work in the maul ahead of the halftime hooter to give them a glimmer of hope.
An early second-half penalty stretched New Zealand’s lead, but it was a much better Australia who fronted up.
New Zealand had a try disallowed for a forward pass and Australia capitalized with a try of their own through Paisami after a break from Lukhan Salakaia-Loto to narrow the gap to 10 points with 15 minutes left.
It lit a fuse under the home side, who scored another try through Tom Wright with a minute left to set up a grandstand finish, only for the All Blacks to cling on.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their