Ben Smith was the hat-trick hero for the All Blacks on Saturday night.

by Brendan Bradford –

The more things change, the more they stay the same for the Wallabies.

A new coach, some fresh faces and an attacking mindset saw an invigorated side take the field with great optimism in the opening Rugby Championship game in Sydney on Saturday night but the result, another loss to the All Blacks, was all too familiar.

A 20-point haul to Man-of-the-Match Aaron Cruden and a hat-trick to winger Ben Smith helped the All Blacks to a six-tries-to-two 47-29 win to kick off their Rugby Championship defence, while a willing Wallabies side must now regroup ahead of next weekend’s return match in Wellington.

It took just two minutes for Cruden to make a mockery of calls the All Blacks wouldn’t be the same without Dan Carter. After probing the Wallabies defensive line early, the Chiefs flyhalf pulled off a magnificent round-the-corner offload for Ben Smith to dot down near the sideline. He added the extras before two Christian Leali’ifano penalties narrowed the gap to 7-6 after 12-minutes.

Christian Leali’ifano kept his perfect record from the tee intact for the Wallabies with 19-points.

Referee Craig Joubert was quick to penalise any breakdown infringements in the opening quarter as Cruden and Leali’ifano notched more three-pointers and the Wallabies gained a 12-10 advantage after 25-minutes.

Leali’ifano has been perfect from the kicking tee for the Wallabies, but when Cruden managed to charge down an attempted clearance by the Brumbies inside-centre deep in green and gold territory, the diminutive All Blacks playmaker scampered away to restore his side’s lead.

Smelling blood in the water, the reigning World Champions pounced again just five minutes later when captain Richie McCaw finished off an easy overlap on the right wing.

Down 22-12 in the shadows of halftime, the Wallabies refused to back down.

In the 37th minute, Michael Hooper snapped up a loose ball at the back of a wayward All Blacks lineout and offloaded to Will Genia on his own side of halfway. The Reds halfback barely escaped an attempted ankle tap by Aaron Cruden before cutting inside to evade his opposite number and dotting down under the posts to narrow the gap to 22-19.

Another Cruden penalty after the halftime siren saw the All Blacks take a 25-19 lead into the sheds.

A fifth Leali’ifano penalty straight after the resumption made it a three point game again, but the men in black stepped it up a level after 50-minutes.

The Wallabies were attempting to play expansive, running rugby, but struggled to get out of their own half as the three-quarter mark approached. A barnstorming run by All Blacks backrower Steven Luatua scattered the defence enough for Aaron Smith to dart 15-metres downfield and find the third element of the dangerous Smith triumvirate, Conrad, lurking on his shoulder. The Hurricanes centre easily accounted for Jesse Mogg who was quickly substituted after a tough night at the office.

Man-of-the-Match Aaron Cruden scored 20-points including a try.

Five minutes later, Ben Smith rubbed salt in the wound when he was on hand to finish off a slick backline overlap in the right corner.

With a quarter still to play, the contest was over. In just five lethal minutes, two All Blacks tries had repelled the confident Wallaby outfit, but the pain wasn’t over yet.

Cruden added another penalty before Ben Smith popped up on the blindside to scoop up a loose ball and dart down the touchline for his third of the night.

The Wallabies contested right to the end with Leali’ifano finding space in midfield and Tevita Kuridrani proving a menace from the bench. James O’Connor pegged back a consolation try with the last play of the game for a 47-29 score.

In the end, while the Wallabies tried to play with ball in hand, they gave away too much possession and made costly errors at crucial moments while the All Blacks were as clinical as ever, punishing every mistake. 

The new scrum laws, enacted for the first time in a Test match, met with mixed results. Although the first contest went to ground, most of the following engagements went smoothly. However, questions remain concerning the straightness of the feed by the halfback.

NEW ZEALAND 47 (Ben Smith 3, Aaron Cruden, Richie McCaw, Conrad Smith tries; Aaron Cruden 3, Beauden Barrett cons, Aaron Cruden 3 pens) bt AUSTRALIA 29 (Will Genia, James O’Connor tries; Christian Leali’ifano 2 cons, 5 pens)