Bledisloe Cup recap: Nasty hip-drop tackle sours massive All Blacks win at Eden Park

Wallabies fullback Tom Wright alarmingly admitted the All Blacks were “hungrier” at Eden Park as Australia’s Bledisloe Cup drought extended into a 24th year tonight.

The visitors were right in the contest at halftime as New Zealand held a 17-14 lead in the first Test of a two-game series in Auckland.

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Alarming admission as Wallabies slump to record Bledis-low

All Blacks coach fears Leroy Carter’s injury is serious after the winger was dragged down by Wallabies flanker Rob Valetini while scoring a try tonight.

“Leroy, yeah, it didn’t look good. Sort of like a hip-drop type tackle, landed on the back of his ankle,” Rennie said.

“Leroy, yeah, it didn’t look good. Reasonably serious. Sort of like a hip-drop type tackle, landed on the back of his ankle,” Rennie said.

“I’ll leave that for the officials. I’m sure it’s not intentional, but that’s the way the game’s going.”

World Rugby followed the NRL’s lead this week by explicitly banning hip-drop tackles.

They define those as one “where a tackler uses their body weight to pull a player to ground and drops onto the legs of a ball carrier from behind.”

But Valetini may be saved by the fact that the new law doesn’t kick in until November 1.

The Wallabies came into the match confident after their recent win over South Africa at home.

They started both halves strongly and managed to pick holes in the All Blacks’ pressing defence, first through Max Jorgensen who made Tom Wright’s try, then through Ben Donaldson.

But they couldn’t match the All Blacks in the air or at the breakdown and there were periods of indiscipline which cost them field position.

Set pieces were even, though the Wallabies stole a couple of All Blacks’ lineouts.

Harry Wilson was superb again for Australia, Jorgensen was a hovering danger and Donaldson opportunistic at times.

But the Wallabies eventually were overwhelmed by an All Blacks team which had been depleted by injuries and was down on its luck.

The second Test between the teams will be played in Sydney next weekend.

New Zealand needed to win only one of the Tests to retain the Bledisloe Cup which it has held since 2003.

All Blacks captain Codie Taylor was one of seven try-scorers for the rampant hosts tonight.

“We were hurting a little bit after the (South Africa series), but it’s awesome to come home, play in front of our fans, our people. We’ve missed it, and to get a result like that, hugely proud of the boys,” Taylor said.

“This is home for us... you see ex-All Blacks standing on the sidelines. You want to do it for those men, the people that have been before you, and you just want to continue the legacy.”

Tries: All Blacks 7 Wallabies 3

Carries: All Blacks 160 Wallabies 105

Line breaks: All Blacks 9 Wallabies 4

Turnovers lost: All Blacks 13 Wallabies 6

Turnovers lost: All Blacks 4 Wallabies 3

Territory: All Blacks 57% Wallabies 43%

Possession: All Blacks 57% Wallabies 43%

Lineout percentage: All Blacks 80% Wallabies 92%

Penalties conceded: All Blacks 7 Wallabies 10

Tackles made: All Blacks 144 Wallabies 200

Tackles missed: All Blacks 23 Wallabies 30

Tackle completion: All Blacks 86% Wallabies 87%

Dave Rennie has finally got his hands on the Bledisloe Cup after failing to do so as Wallabies coach.

“I’m really rapt. We made a lot of shifts in areas that maybe weren’t good enough in South Africa,” Rennie said.

“I thought we were excellent (in the air), Cam’s (Roigard) kicking was excellent... we put enough kick pressure on them so they over-kicked a little bit.

“Internationally, teams are catching one of four receiving. So, I think we were excellent.”

Les Kiss has faced the music after his first loss as Wallabies coach.

“Well, we said it all week, this ground matters a lot to them, and they showed that in the second half. Fair play to New Zealand, they were very hard to attack against, they were very strong on the ball,” Kiss said.

“And on the other side, they were very clean, they took Fraser McReight off the ball very well. We’ve got Sydney next week, let’s see what happens.”

Spare a thought for All Blacks winger Lery Carter, who went from the joy of scoring the match-sealing try, to the pain of a likely long spell on the sidelines.

Will Rob Valetini be punished for his hip-drop tackle?

Wallabies captain Harry Wilson admits his team took “a step back” tonight but vows that they will get better from the humbling experience.

They go again in Sydney next weekend with changes in both teams certain.

“We came in with real belief, we came in on a good trajectory,” Wilson told Stan Sport.

“Tonight was probably a step back for us as we didn’t win those big moments. When you give the All Blacks ball it’s hard to get it back. We’ll review hard and come back a lot better next week.

“We could tell they were hurting from the South Africa series, and gee whiz, they bounced back tonight.”

Wilson was one of Australia’s best, scoring a try and leading the tackle count with a mammoth 27.

Codie Taylor is the latest All Blacks captain to get his hands on the enormous Bledisloe Cup.

He is filling in for the injured Ardie Savea.

What a proud moment for the Test centurion.