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Australia end All Blacks' winning streak with stalemate in soggy Sydney
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Australia held New Zealand to a 12-12 draw in their Rugby Championship opener to prevent the All Blacks from claiming a world record 18th consecutive win.
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In a gritty encounter played out in a Sydney rainstorm, Australia benefited from yellow cards shown to All Blacks Wyatt Crockett and Beauden Barrett either side of the break.
They tied the match up with fly-half Kurtley Beale’s fourth penalty 10 minutes from time after Barrett was sin-binned but were unable to make the most of their superior numbers and secure a first victory over the All Blacks for three years.
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Aaron Cruden scored all of New Zealand’s points with four penalty kicks of his own as the world champions came up short of a win for the first time in the three years of the Rugby Championship.
The draw means New Zealand continue to share the record of 17 consecutive victories by a top tier nation with the 1965-69 All Blacks and South Africa side of 1997-98.
The Wallabies also stopped the last lengthy New Zealand winning streak with an 18-18 draw in Brisbane two years ago that stopped the All Blacks on 16 wins.
“It is an improvement, we are improving in the last four games but it feels like a loss, considering we got so close and we had a chance to win it at the end,” said Australia skipper Michael Hooper.
The teeming rain was always going to make for a poor spectacle and the first half was certainly not one for the fan of free-flowing attacking rugby.
Cruden and Beale exchanged penalties in the first 11 minutes but the All Blacks had the edge in territory and countered the home side’s blitz defence with clever short kicks into the backfield.
Another two Cruden penalties put New Zealand 9-3 up after 21 minutes as Australia struggled to get their attack going amid a string of unforced errors. Australia spurned a couple of kickable penalties towards the end of the half but did get some return just before the break when prop Crockett was sin-binned for a cynical foul after the Wallabies took a quick tap.
Hooper finally gave Beale another penalty attempt after the half-time hooter but the fly-half hit the upright and the subsequent attack fizzled out.
Beale narrowed the deficit with his second penalty four minutes after the break but that was the only score the Wallabies managed before the All Blacks were back to a full complement.
Wallabies scrum-half Nic White kicked through from turnover ball in the 53rd minute and Beale levelled up the scores from the subsequent penalty after winger Julian Savea had done well to keep the ball in play on his own line.
Cruden gave the All Blacks a 12-9 lead with his fourth penalty just before the hour mark but Australia nearly hit back through Pat McCabe, only a brilliant double tackle from Savea and Ryan Crotty keeping the winger out.
Australia had the momentum, though, and replacement fly-half Barrett was shown a yellow card for slowing the ball down in the 69th minute. Beale again squared the scores but the Wallabies were unable to give the 68,627 crowd the victory they craved.