They were brave and showed plenty of adventure but the Wallabies have come up short yet again across the ditch against the All Blacks, losing 33-13 in Wellington on Saturday evening.
The Wallabies ran out to an early lead through Fraser McReight, but Joe Schmidt’s men couldn’t handle the All Blacks’ back three on a special evening for Scott Robertson’s side who farewelled former captain Sam Cane and hometown hero TJ Perenara.
The All Blacks ran in five tries to the Wallabies’ one, with winger Caleb Clarke scoring a double and his back three teammate Will Jordan and Sevu Reece also getting on the scoresheet.
Sevu Reece skips past Len Ikitau to score against the Wallabies at Sky Stadium on September 28, 2024 in Wellington. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
The 20 point loss confined the Wallabies to bottom spot on The Rugby Championship for the second straight season after claiming just one victory from six Tests. The All Blacks will likely finish in second spot unless Argentina can spring another surprise against the Springboks in South Africa.
“Really pleased to reverse the curse,” All Blacks skipper Scott Barrett said.
“We didn’t start too well but I’m really pleased with how we finished. Some grit in defence and we held out the Aussies.”
Wallabies skipper Harry Wilson lamented his side’s second half, where they struggled to get a foothold and blew a couple of late chances to find a way back into the contest after going into the sheds trailing 19-13.
“Obviously gutted. It’s not the result we wanted,” Wilson said.
“I thought our first 40 was really good. We showed up, we started fast, but we struggled with possession in the second half and had a few chances at the end to get some points on the board but we didn’t.
“We haven’t got the results that we’ve wanted but I’ve felt we’ve improved. But ultimately we need to win. It’s a tough way to finish the tournament.”
