Autumn Nations Series | All Blacks wrap up Rugby Championship crown and Bledisloe Cup

by Autumn Nations Series

New Zealand clinched the Rugby Championship title with an impressive 38-7 win over Australia, securing the Bledisloe Cup in the process.

With wins over Argentina and South Africa already under their belts, the All Blacks led the Springboks by four points, knowing a win in Melbourne would clinch the title.

But they did much more than that, running in six tries in front of a huge crowd at the MCG in an emphatic showing.

Later in the day, South Africa – who will face Wales in three weeks in the Summer Nations Series – beat Argentina 22-21.

In the first game, New Zealand struck first when Scott Barrett’s big tackle on Tate McDermott allowed Shannon Frizell to get over.

Australia, who will also head to Europe to take on France in the Summer Nations Series, responded with a try from Rob Valetini.

However, the Kiwis finished the first half strongly, with Codie Taylor and then Will Jordan getting over to make it 19-7 at the break.

The Wallabies had lost skipper Allan Alaalatoa to a serious injury just before half-time and then saw their hopes of beating their Trans-Tasman rivals effectively ended when 15 minutes of concerted pressure to start the second half resulted in no points.

New Zealand were much more clinical, Caleb Clarke getting over for their fourth before Mark Telea finished a stunning counter-attacking score.

Has the ‘G ever seen something quite like this?#BledisloeCup pic.twitter.com/fkT5OgTO88

— All Blacks (@AllBlacks) July 29, 2023

There was still time for Rieko Ioane to get a sixth and wrap up a convincing victory for Ian Foster’s side. They will take on the Wallabies again next week in Dunedin as Eddie Jones seeks a first win since his return to Australia.

Later in the day in Johannesburg, South Africa overcame the loss of Grant Williams to injury in the first minute to battle past Argentina.

Two early penalties from Santiago Carreras put Argentina into a 6-0 lead, with Manie Libbok responding with a penalty for the Springboks.

They hit the front when Eben Etzebeth powered over on the right for the game’s first try, soon followed by Damian de Allende.

A third Carreras penalty before half-time cut the deficit to 15-9 at the break.

The fly-half missed two opportunities to cut the gap in the second half, as South Africa resisted Argentinian pressure.

And when Faf de Klerk pounced on a loose ball, he was able to quickly move it to Libbok who had the pace to sprint away for a first Test try that made the game safe.

Mateo Carreras did get over with six minutes to go as Argentina finally found a way through, with Gonzalo Bertranou crossing with the clock in the red but it was too little, too late.