All Blacks hold on with 13 men to beat Wallabies 31-28 and retain Bledisloe Cup

All Blacks hang on to beat Wallabies 31-28 and retain Bledisloe Cup

The All Blacks have retained the Bledisloe Cup after a thrilling 31-28 victory over the Wallabies in Melbourne. Down to 13 men for the final 10 minutes, the All Blacks held on to secure a famous victory.

Down to the wire

After a tight first half, the Wallabies took a 28-18 lead early in the second half. But the All Blacks hit back with tries to Rieko Ioane and Samisoni Taukei'aho to level the scores. IIn the 70th minute, prop Angus Ta'avao was sent off for a dangerous tackle, leaving the All Blacks with just 13 men.

But the All Blacks refused to give up and managed to hold on for a famous victory. Jordie Barrett kicked a penalty goal in the 79th minute to seal the win.

Key moments

The key moments in the match were:

• The Wallabies took an early lead through a try to Tom Banks.
• The All Blacks hit back with a try to Rieko Ioane.
• The Wallabies regained the lead with a try to Marika Koroibete.
• The All Blacks leveled the scores with a try to Samisoni Taukei'aho.
• Angus Ta'avao was sent off for a dangerous tackle.
• Jordie Barrett kicked a penalty goal in the 79th minute to seal the win for the All Blacks.

Reaction

All Blacks coach Ian Foster was delighted with his team's performance.

"I'm so proud of the boys," Foster said. "They showed a lot of character and resilience to come back from 13 men down and win the game.

Wallabies coach Dave Rennie was disappointed with the result but praised his team's effort.

"We're obviously disappointed to lose the game," Rennie said. "But I'm proud of the effort the boys put in. We showed a lot of character to come back from 18-13 down to take the lead. But in the end, the All Blacks were too good for us.