Bledisloe Cup: All Blacks crush Wallabies in record rout

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has blasted his defence after a record 42-8 loss to the All Blacks in the first Bledisloe Test.

Waisake Naholo of the All Blacks heads for the try line to score before his injury.

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika has blasted his team’s defence after their record 42-8 loss to the All Blacks in the first Bledisloe Cup Test at ANZ Stadium in Sydney.

The 34-point margin on Saturday night was the biggest the Wallabies have conceded to the All Blacks on Australian soil.

The All Blacks outscored the Wallabies six tries to one to put themselves in a strong position to retain the Bledisloe Cup for a 14th straight year.

It was the first time the Wallabies had played the All Blacks since the World Cup final in England last year and was their fifth loss in a row following their three-Test defeat by England in June.

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika in the coaches’ box as All Blacks routed his team. Picture: Mark Evans

“I thought we defended very poorly,” Cheika said. “Defence is attitude. There was no rustiness. When players run into you you’ve got to tackle.

“That’s the nature of the game, so that when other things don’t work out, that will look after you.”

While the Wallabies’ defence was poor, there were other areas of their game that left a lot to be desired, including poor ball-handling and kicking.

New Zealand's Jerome Kaino scores a try.

The calculated gamble to enter the game with only two lineout jumpers also backfired with the All Blacks stealing five Wallabies lineout balls.

The Wallabies’ cause was not helped by losing three inside centres to injury in the first half with Matt Giteau (ankle), Matt Toomua (concussion) and Rob Horne (arm) all forced off the field in the first half.

Cheika said the drama surrounding the alleged placement of a bugging device at the All Blacks’ meeting room at their hotel in Double Bay had not distracted the Wallabies.

“I don’t think anyone accused us of putting it there,” Cheika said. “It’s got nothing to do with us.”

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen said his team had focused on their attitude following a loss and a draw in Sydney in the past two years.

“We have come here the last couple of times and it hasn’t been great for us,” Hansen said. “While it wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t too bad.

“Mentally we were right on the button and when you are like that and you’ve got a bit of talent you can do things.”

The All Blacks led 32-3 at halftime after outscoring the Wallabies four tries to nil in a stunning first 40 minutes.

It was the All Blacks’ biggest halftime lead against the Wallabies in Australia and their equal most halftime points against them.

Michael Hooper of the Wallabies in action during the Bledisloe Cup Rugby Championship match.

The All Blacks suffered an early setback when hooker Codie Taylor sustained a head knock in the second minute and was replaced by Dane Coles, who was carrying a rib injury.

Wallabies five-eighth Bernard Foley opened the scoring with a penalty goal in the third minute after All Blacks tight-head prop Owen Franks was caught off-side in defence.

All Blacks inside centre Ryan Crotty scored the first try of the game in the fifth minute after the Wallabies’ defence was caught short on the right edge of the field. Five-eighth Beauden Barrett converted to make it 7-3.

Giteau limped off in the 11th minute with an ankle injury. He had damaged the ankle a few minutes earlier and tried to run it out, but he could not continue.

Toomua received a head knock in the 29th minute and was replaced by Rob Horne, who lasted only eight minutes before leaving the field with an arm injury. He was replaced by reserve halfback Nick Phipps.

All Blacks second rower Brodie Retallick was denied a try in the 19th minute when the TMO ruled winger Ben Smith was off-side when a kick by Wallabies fullback Israel Folau was charged down.

Barrett edged the All Blacks ahead 13-3 with a penalty goal in the 22nd minute and then scored a try three minutes later after looping around in attack and slicing through the defence.

They try came after All Blacks captain Kieran Read stole two Wallabies lineout balls.

Blindside flanker Jerome Kaino scored in the 30th minute after charging down a kick by Foley and regathering the ball.

Winger Waisake Naholo scored in the 38th minute following a midfield break by Barrett, but he injured his leg while scoring and was assisted off the field.

The All Blacks refused to take their foot off the Wallabies’ throat with replacement winger Julian Savea scoring in the 58th minute in the left corner after bumping off winger Dane Haylett-Petty out wide.

The All Blacks were reduced to 14 men for the last six minutes when Read was sin-binned for repeated off-side infringements and the Wallabies immediately took advantage of their numerical advantage with Phipps scoring a consolation try in the left-hand corner.

Israel Folau of the Wallabies takes a high ball.

Wallabies captain Stephen Moore was unable to hide his disappointment.

“It’s hard to know what to say. I feel for all our fans who came out tonight. It wasn’t good enough for us tonight,” Moore said.

“Really disappointed. I thought we clawed back into it in that second half, but [it was] just too big a lead.

“We prepared well and trained really hard in the last three weeks and we thought we were ready to play well tonight, but we need to look at all that — go back to it.

“We’ve got another game next week so you don’t just give up. “We’ve just got to keep going and get ready for next week over there,” Moore said.

with AAP