Dominant All Blacks punish Australia

Impregnable New Zealand punished Australia 22-0 in the Eden Park Test on Saturday -- the first time in 50 years the Wallabies have been kept scoreless by the world champion All Blacks.

The one-sided result kept the Kiwis unbeaten after two matches in the Rugby Championship and saw them retain the Bledisloe Cup, contested between the two nations, for the 10th consecutive season.

Returning to the scene of their World Cup triumph 10 months ago, the All Blacks scored only one try with Dan Carter adding five penalties and a conversion. But they dominated throughout, even though they were unable to completely remedy their erratic form from last week, when they beat the Wallabies 27-19 in Sydney, and again they had problems securing clean lineout ball.

They monstered Australia in the scrums and controlled the breakdown, where Richie McCaw and Kieran Read showed far more aggression than Michael Hooper and Scott Higginbotham.

Behind the pack, fledgling scrum-half Aaron Smith fed a stream of front-foot ball to his outsides, where Dan Carter and Sonny Bill Williams kept Quade Cooper and Berrick Barnes scrambling.

It is the second time this year New Zealand achieved the rare feat of blanking the opposition -- they beat Ireland 60-0.

The Wallabies, who chose an expansive game plan last week, opted for a more conservative forward drive approach for the return clash but apart from a brief period at the start of the game they rarely put the All Blacks under pressure. In the first half, three Carter penalties were the only points for the All Blacks as tries went begging.

AFP