ABs Lift Bledisloe Cup for 16th Consecutive Year

New Zealand has won the Bledisloe Cup for a 16th consecutive year with a 40-12 victory over Australia at Eden Park in Auckland.

Beauden Barrett scored four tries and kicked five conversions, while Joe Moody and Liam Squire crossed for the dominant All Blacks.

Will Genia and Reece Hodge scored tries for Australia, with Bernard Foley landing one conversion.

New Zealand added to their 38-13 win in Sydney, with the games also part of the Rugby Championship.

Like in Sydney, Australia was competitive until half-time when the score was 14-7 before the All Blacks pulled away after the interval. Barrett’s four tries is a new All Blacks record in a match against Australia.

The Bledisloe Cup is the annual three-match series between New Zealand and Australia, with the third fixture taking place in Yokohama, Japan on 27 October.

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen said: “[Australian coach Michael Cheika’s] team, because they lose to us, doesn’t become a poor team.

“The key thing is [Cheika] doesn’t lose his own convictions and the team don’t lose sight of what they’re trying to do and listening to them talk it sounds like they’ve got plenty of belief in who they are and what they’re trying to do.”

Original article by BBC, August 26, 2018.