New Zealand locked away the Bledisloe Cup yesterday with a record 57-22 victory over Australia in a bitter, bruising encounter at Eden Park in Auckland.
In a white-hot atmosphere with bone-crunching tackles echoing around the ground, the All Blacks scored eight tries to three to post their highest ever score over the Wallabies.
The All Blacks points included two impressive long-range intercept tries, and Damian McKenzie landed a monster 57-metre (62-yard) penalty.
The Wallabies had vowed to take an aggressive approach and the All Blacks said they would fight fire with fire. By the 25th minute, referee Brendon Pickerill had to warn both sides to cut out the off-the-ball niggle.
With the victory, they secured the Bledisloe Cup for a 19th consecutive year, made a winning start to the Rugby Championship and extended their unbeaten run at Eden Park to 46 matches.
They also crushed the hopes of frustrated Wallabies fans at a ground where Australia have not won in 22 Tests since 1986.
The previous high score by the All Blacks over Australia was 54-34 in Sydney in 2017.