New Zealand claimed a convincing 54 – 34 win over Australia in the opening match of the 2017 Rugby Championship.
The All Blacks, led by captain Kieran Read, lived up to their billing as favourites for the 2017 Rugby Championship after putting 54 points past the hapless Wallabies at the ANZ Stadium in Sydney.
That said, there was a bit of a fight back from the Australians, however, it didn’t stop the New Zealanders from clearing the (-16.5) handicap offered by Hollywoodbets prior to the game.
The All Blacks started like they meant to go on despite the Australians opening the scoring with a fourth-minute Bernard Foley penalty. Tries from Liam Squire, Rieko Ioane x2, Ryan Crotty x2 and the returning Sonny Bill Williams gave the New Zealanders a commanding 40-6 half time lead over their opponents.
The second half started with more of the same as Damian McKenzie and Ben Smith dotted down just after the break to stretch the visitors’ lead past the 50-point mark. What followed was a bit of a fight-back from the hosts as Curtis Rona, Tevita Kurandrani, Kurtley Beale and Israel Folau all scored without response from the visitors.
The visitors’ backline were utterly dominant in the first half and in the early stages of the second until Tevita Kurandrani was brought on for the Samu Kerevi. The Brumbie added a bit of solidity to the hosts’ defence which, in turn, afforded the Wallaby backs a bit more freedom in attack.
The late rally from the Aussies added a bit of polish to the scoreline although they were completely and utterly dominated from the outset. Congratulations to all of the punters who got on the New Zealand (-16.5) at 9/10! Off the back of this performance, there can only be one winner in Dunedin next week. And one can be certain that Steve Hansen will be looking for more from his side in the second half after shipping four tries in the closing stages here at Sydney.
