How the All Blacks CRUSHED the Wallabies | Tactical Breakdown

The All Blacks beat the Wallabies 50-19 at Eden Park in the first Bledisloe Cup Test of 2026, and the Bledisloe Cup stays in New Zealand. It was 17-14 at half-time, then New Zealand won the second half 33-5. All week the talk was about a Wallabies upset after their win over the Springboks in Perth. I said in my preview it was overhyped. In this review I go through the stats to show how the All Blacks pulled away, and I check my own preview calls, including the ones I got wrong. What I cover: • The high ball: the All Blacks regathered 6 of 13 contestable kicks in my live kick log, and two of them led straight to the Lakai and Vaa'i tries. Australia didn't get any of theirs back. • Australia's kicks to touch led to 24 New Zealand points. • 22 entries: 10 to 2 after half-time, 15 to 6 overall, with both sides scoring about three points per visit. • Seven of the ten tries started at the lineout, and all ten scrums were won by the feeding side. • The McReight question, Jeremy Williams at the lineout, and what Australia did better (quicker ruck ball, fewer turnovers lost). • Will Jordan now has 11 tries in 8 Tests this year, and McKenzie kicked 7 from 8. • Scott Barrett and Shannon Frizell back in black. • What the All Blacks need to fix before Bledisloe 2 and the November tour to Scotland, Wales and England. Stats: RugbyPass, plus my own live log of every kick, scrum and restart. Chapters 0:00 Was the upset talk overhyped? 1:13 My two conditions: the lead at 60 and turnovers 1:42 The high ball and the golf day 3:16 My kick log: 6 of 13 contestables regathered 3:53 How many times each side kicked 4:48 NZ pressure forced Australia to kick to touch 5:06 24 points from Australia's kicks to touch 5:33 Penalty kicks to the corner 6:36 Entries into the 22 6:59 Points per entry 7:35 Australia's 100 tackles each half 7:46 Discipline under pressure 8:32 The McReight question 9:21 The lineout battle 9:59 Scrums 10:52 Where the tries started 11:09 The restart warning came true 11:46 Three things Australia did better 13:25 Will Jordan and Max Jorgensen 14:07 The midfield 15:38 All Black standouts 16:19 Wallaby standouts 17:02 Scott Barrett and Shannon Frizell return 17:52 How my preview calls held up 19:04 Eden Park, and what's next for the All Blacks Do you think the high ball is fixed, or was this just Australia? Tell me in the comments. I'm at 9,100 subscribers and trying to get to 10,000, so if you enjoy this kind of analysis, please subscribe and share it with a rugby mate. #AllBlacks #Wallabies #BledisloeCup