All Blacks retain Bledisloe Cup with 38-7 win over Wallabies in ...

At Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne: All Blacks 38 (Shannon Frizell 3m, Codie Taylor 34', Will Jordan 42', Caleb Clarke 59', Mark Telea 64', Rieko Ioane 67' tries; Richie Mo'unga 4 con) Wallabies 7 (Rob Valetini 7' try; Carter Gordon con). HT: 19-7

Yellow card: Marika Koroibete (Wallabies) 26', Taniela Tupou (Wallabies) 58'.

Ardie Savea led the All Blacks to a 38-7victory over the Wallabies at the Melbourne Cricket Ground to retain the Bledisloe Cup on Saturday night, but don't be fooled by that scoreline.

The All Blacks, who also defended their Rugby Championship title, were given a vigorous work-out by a Wallabies side that delivered a few sharp jabs to their trans-Tasman opponent’s pride before finally crumbling into a heap as injuries and yellow cards finally took their toll.

Despite remaining win-less under new coach Eddie Jones, the Aussies, in front of a crowd of more than 80,000 people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, did their best to fulfill the role of the brave wee battler.

The All Blacks, having led 19-7 at halftime, were made to wait 19 minutes before adding to that total and when they did it was replacement wing Caleb Clarke who gave them the breathing space they so desperately needed.

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Right wing Will Jordan scored a try for the All Blacks in the first half of the test against the Wallabies in Melbourne.

What followed was a reminder of how lethal the All Blacks can be when allowed to run free, and not feel constrained by the scoreboard. Tries to Mark Telea and Rieko Ioane sealed the deal.

Yellow cards to midfielder Marika Koroibete and replacement prop Taniela Tupou on either side of halftime contributed to the Wallabies’ woes.

So, too, did their lack of game breakers and when veteran Quade Cooper was hauled on to the grass to replace inexperienced playmaker Carter Gordon in the third quarter, it laid bare all the problems that Jones faces ahead of the World Cup in France.

For All Blacks coach Ian Foster, who was unable to pick regular skipper and No 7 Sam Cane because of a neck injury, there was plenty to celebrate despite the periods of frustration.

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Richie Mo’unga kicked four conversions and had a try disallowed in the final minutes.

Lock Scott Barrett was again immense, as he has been all year.

He, surely, has anchored his place in the starting team and it’s now a race between Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock, the latter coming off the bench, for the remaining spot at the World Cup.

During the lead-up Jones was adamant the All Blacks hadn't had their toes held to the fire in the earlier big wins against the Springboks and Argentina.

They could be made to look vulnerable, he said. Jones wasn't wrong. Unlike their earlier matches in Auckland and Mendoza, where they came out with a flicker of menace in their eyes and rattled on the points, the All Blacks lacked polish for long periods in the first spell as halfback Aaron Smith was harangued, pushed and prodded.

Barrett's thunderous tackle on Wallabies No 9 Tate McDermott a nanosecond after he received the ball off a defensive lineout gifted Shannon Frizell one of the softest tries he will score in a test in the opening minutes.

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Jordie Barrett of the All Blacks fends off Tate McDermott during the test in Melbourne.

McDermott, having been slammed on his back like a turtle flipping on lino, couldn't hold the pill and Frizell couldn't believe his good fortune as the oval egg tumbled to his feet.

Perhaps Wallabies No 8 Rob Valetini, like Frizell, felt like a man who had successfully guessed the correct lottery numbers when the officials awarded him a try four minutes later.

Valetini capped off a raid by his side when he reached out in the tackle between the goal posts to score; at another time, maybe, it would have been disallowed for a double movement. Not on this occasion and, with the conversion successful, the Aussies were up 7-5.

What followed in the next 27 minutes was an important lesson on how to make the All Blacks look ordinary. Confronted with a steely defensive line and, more importantly forced to spit out messy ruck ball due to the physicality of the blokes in gold, the All Blacks conceded four penalties before finally receiving one of their own.

Many youngsters in New Zealand were raised to hum the mantra that in test footy you always attempt to collect the points if the penalty is kickable. Instead the All Blacks elected to try and grab a five-pointer off a lineout drive. It failed.

Another penalty was soon given, and when wing Telea failed with a quick tap-and-dash to score, it was disallowed because he didn't nudge the ball far enough with boot, the visitors were forced to suck in the oxygen and accept this wasn't going to be easy.

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Aaron Smith of the All Blacks passes during the test against the Wallabies.

A yellow card to Wallabies midfielder Koroibete during that frantic period proved the catalyst for the All Blacks' success when Codie Taylor scored off a lineout drive, while the loss of skipper and tighthead prop Allan Alaalatoa with an injury to his lower leg following a scrum was another significant blow for the home side

Even with Koroibete back on the park, the All Blacks had all the momentum as they revved their collective engines and sent right wing Will Jordan over for a try two minutes after the halftime hooter.

The damage wasn't just on the scoreboard, with the All Blacks ahead 19-7. They had made just 73 tackles to the Wallabies' 151, a statistic that suggested the hosts were in danger of running out of juice.

Jones, predictably, went to this bench early in the second half. He had to. Tired legs make for holes in the defensive line and a drop of energy in the rucks, so on came all four forwards from the pine.

They couldn’t keep the black tide from rushing in. It was too late.

The big moment

The All Blacks were able to relax when Clarke scored mid-way through the second spell. It pushed them out to a 31-7 lead and the game was in the bag.

MVP

Scott Barrett. Massive workrate, all around the park.

Match rating

7/10

Lots of mistakes from both teams, but no lack of vigour, want or aggression.

The big picture:

That's the Bledisloe Cup and Rugby Championship title secured for the All Blacks. They will play the Wallabies in Bledisloe II in Dunedin next weekend. Expect the All Blacks to make changes, which may allow then to give uncapped players such as Samipeni Finau and Dallas McLeod a run at Forsyth Barr Stadium.