New Zealand 50-19 Australia: All Blacks power to Eden Park victory to retain Bledisloe Cup for 24th year

10.10.2026, 11:46 skysports.com

New Zealand will retain the Bledisloe Cup for a 24th year after powering to a 50-19 victory over Australia at Eden Park on Saturday.

A competitive first half, perhaps even edged by Australia, saw the All Blacks three points ahead at the break as the sides traded two tries each. Back-rows Peter Lakai and Tupou Vaa'i scoring for the hosts, full-back Tom Wright and No 8 Harry Wilson scoring for the Wallabies.

But the second half proved altogether different, as the All Blacks added five further tries through scrum-half Cam Roigard, hooker Codie Taylor and wings Leroy Carter, Josh Moorby and Will Jordan.

Electric fly-half Damian McKenzie also added six conversions and a penalty in victory.

The success sees New Zealand remain unbeaten at Eden Park since 1994, and 2002 as the year Australia last held the Bledisloe Cup.

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Australia, ​buoyed by a win over world champions South Africa last month, dominated the opening ⁠exchanges and got their reward in the eighth minute ⁠when full-back Wright cleverly straightened up an attacking move to score the opening try.

The aerial battle was always going to be a key factor and ‌New Zealand were enjoying the better of it with Jordie Barrett winning one duel and feeding McKenzie, who scythed through the defence before feeding flanker Lakai to level up the scores.

The All Blacks were also getting ‌a width in the attack that was causing Australia problems and the home side cashed in to take a 14-7 lead in the 16th minute, when Vaa'i barrelled low and hard through the defence at the end of a multi-phase attack.

Ryan Lonergan missed a penalty for Australia directly in front of the posts in the 24th minute, but McKenzie made ⁠no mistake nine minutes later to extend the lead to ​10 points.

The five minutes before half-time is traditionally a fruitful stage of ​the game for New Zealand, but it was Australia who scored three minutes before the ​break, with Ben Donaldson scooting through a gap in the defence and finding Wilson in support.

Australia ⁠again came firing out of the blocks in the second half but New Zealand earned the first points after 50 minutes when scrum-half Roigard darted over the line off the back of a rolling maul to extend their lead ⁠to 24-14.

The All Blacks were now relentless in attack ​and hooker Taylor, captaining the side for the second time, stepped to score their fourth try five minutes ​later.

The Wallabies were now struggling to hold onto the ball and wingers Carter, Moorby and Jordan capitalised on the remorseless pressure from the All Blacks in the ‌last quarter to put the game ​well beyond the visitors.

All Blacks centre Jordie Barrett to Sky Sports:

"It's pretty special, the Bledisloe Cup means a lot to this country.

"We spent a lot of time on the road this year, and we spoke about it this week. We wanted to show what it was like to be an All Black and play in front of our fans.

"We're bloody proud of the performance tonight.

"We wanted to keep maxing out with our energy, and we got a lot of physical dominance up front tonight."

Australia captain Harry Wilson to Sky Sports:

"Credit to New Zealand, they are a quality side, and playing them here [Eden Park] is always tough.

"We did a really good job to be in the fight after that first half, and then we had an opportunity at the start of the second half and blew it.

"It was then tough to get the ball back for the next 30 minutes.

"It was hard to hold your breath. They put us under a lot of pressure and you could tell they were hurting from the result of the South Africa series.

"They bounced back tonight."

Next week sees the return clash between these two, as the All Blacks travel to face Australia in Sydney on Saturday October 17 (6am kick-off BST).

That match is also live on Sky Sports Main Event from 6am.

The Bledisloe Cup can now not be won by Australia, however, as even victory will see New Zealand retain it owing to Saturday's result.