Saturday, 25 August 2012

Carter Kicks Blacks to Bledisloe Win

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Daniel Carter kicked 17 points as New Zealand beat Australia in their Rugby Championship match at Eden Park.

Fly-half Carter kicked five penalties and converted Israel Dagg's try as the All Blacks retained the Bledisloe Cup for the 10th successive season.

The Wallabies had captain Will Genia sin-binned for a professional foul and trailed 9-0 at half-time.

Dagg went over after a superb team move to put the game beyond doubt 10 minutes into the second half.

Carter converted the try then added his fifth penalty to give the All Blacks a 22-0 lead, which they should have extended but blew several try-scoring opportunities.

"To lock the Bledisloe up for another year, I'm very proud of the way the guys took to their work," said All Blacks captain Richie McCaw.

The All Blacks dominated territory for much of the game, and did not concede a kickable penalty until the 51st minute, though the Wallabies opted to kick into touch for a lineout and then lost the ball.

"We realised the Wallabies would come back more intensely. They certainly did that but we showed what we were made of when we didn't have the ball," added McCaw.

"It was about getting the line speed up and knocking them over. There was a period there where we had to defend on our line and got a turnover so I'm very happy there."

Genia, whose side lost 27-19 to New Zealand in Sydney last week, said: "You have to give credit to this All Blacks side, they're a great team and they have achieved so much.

"They're going to turn up every week and to be honest I think we got taught a lesson tonight."

New Zealand, who have not lost to Australia at Eden Park since 1986, have won 14 of their 17 Tests against their nearest neighbours since Robbie Deans took over as Wallabies coach in 2008.

The two sides meet again in the third match of the series, which is not part of the Rugby Championship, in Brisbane on 20 October.


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