Bledisloe Cup: Australia v New Zealand – Rugby Championship live | Australia rugby union team
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Key events
Yellow card! Australia (Hooper, 13)
Oh no! Forget everything you just read! Early in that attacking phase Hooper dangerously cleaned out Barrett who was in the act of winning a breakdown turnover. The TMO spotted the infringement, informed Carley on-field, and he has no option but to ignore the try, and rub salt into the wound by sending Hooper to the bin for ten minutes. Massive turnaround.
13 mins: Australia are soon back in possession, going through hands crisply from left to right until Jorgensen straightens them up. By phase seven play returns through hands to the left anad again Jorgensen is in the line to supply the crucial offload. This is thrilling! Wallaby hands are sure as the attack angles in from the left. Potter skips around one, then two tacklers, weaving his way towards the posts. Skelton is on hand to punch his way towards the line. A try is surely coming. This is irresistible. Phase nine, then ten, then the try! Superb full-team rugby from Australia.
Penalty! Australia 6-7 New Zealand (Edmed, 11)
New Zealand seal the restart then kick to halfway. Australia elect to run the ball back and they’re soon rewarded when Williams is penalised for his jackaling technique at the ruck. Excellent, clear refereeing from Carley.
Edmed cools slots over his second penalty, this one from 35m out bang in front.
CONVERTED TRY! Australia 3-7 New Zealand (Carter, 8)
Australia’s lead lasts a matter of seconds. Frost drops the restart, then Allan Alaalatoa is penalised for a hit on Roigard. The All Blacks kick to the right corner, secure the lineout, the maul reaches the try line at speed and a couple of phases later Carter is on his hands and knees beneath a mass of bodies celebrating the opening try of the match.
McKenzie adds the simple extras.
Penalty! Australia 3-0 New Zealand (Edmed, 6)
20m out, on a 45 degree angle, Edmed calmly strokes over the opening points of the game.
4 mins: New Zealand try to get into some phase play on halfway but lose control of the slippery ball and the Wallabies turn it over. Skelton is imposing, Sua’ali’i is adventurous hurling the pass out to the left wing, then Daugunu makes a break. Play returns infield and Jorgensen breaches the gainline with a penalty advantage. This is excellent composed multiphase attacking play. Eventually the referee decides momentum has stalled and brings play back for the shot at goal.
3 mins: Damien McKenzie pulls the penalty attempt wide! It was 40m out, just to the left of the posts, and always looked like missing on the near side. Australia resume with a couple of secure drives and a box kick to halfway.
2 mins: Australia catch the wet ball under cloudy skies. Gordon kicks long to touch. Barrett wins the first lineout and the All Blacks get to work, going through hands swiftly from right to left. Roigard is busy, and he has to try to clearout his own ball, but Skelton is much too strong and secures a dominant turnover. He makes such a difference to this team. Oh dear… then he immediately concedes a penalty reversal for shoving Williams down to the ground. Guess what the former internationals on the telly thought of that decision?
Kick-off!
Round six of the 2025 Rugby Championship is under way…
Codie Taylor is again responsible for leading the All Blacks haka, with the hulking figure of the returning Scott Barrett at the tip of the spearhead formation.
For the Wallabies, Advance Australia Fair is all about James Slipper, the No 1 belting out his national anthem for the 151st and final time as a Test player.
As the New Zealand national anthem rolls around the stadium, the TV camera lingers on Cam Roigard, the defining player from last week in Auckland. The All Black scrumhalf was dynamic and decided the outcome with his brace of tries.
Optus Stadium is a 60,000 sell out and the fans in Western Australia make themselves heard as the two teams walk side by side out onto the lush green turf.
Australia will be wearing their First Nations jersey this evening, which is the usual gold base but with more green accents. New Zealand are top to toe in black.
From Craig in Jeddah, to Alistair in Lyon. Who knew the MBM would be so international today?
“As a French Kiwi in Lyon I despaired of finding an option for watching the match. But it turns out my Spanish friend Felix has the right subscription (and Spanish beers). He is from Valladolid, a rugby-mad city which has two clubs!”
Just a note for Alistair (and anyone day drinking in Europe) to pace yourself. Australia (and the host broadcaster) have done that thing again where they advertise a start time (7:45pm AEST) knowing full well it’s a lie to get you to turn on their TV channel earlier than you need. The countdown clock ticking down over the players warming up indicates a start time of about 8:05pm AEST.
Conditions in Perth are damp. It’s been raining on and off throughout the day so it will be slick under lights. Temperatures are mild and there’s little wind to speak of.
“As a South African following while doing a short stint in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, I am salivating ahead of this pivotal match,” emails Craig Sayers. “Indeed, my medulla oblongata has worked overtime this entire Rugby Championship, considering the effect on my heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure.
“I have a sneaking suspicion that the All Blacks have chosen precisely the wrong game to experiment with their team, and that the Aussies will sneak a close one, despite their inexperience at number 10 in this lineup. Either way, I will be glued to your MBM coverage, and then be paying full attention during the later Pumas v Springboks match. Mercifully, my amygdala will be spared the jingoistic Stan commentary (my Stan subscription does not work here).”
Good to have you on board Craig. An Australian win would also strengthen the Springboks’ chances of retaining the Rugby Championship, but regardless of the result here South Africa will know what they have to do when they take on Argentina at Twickenham in a few hours.
English referee Matthew Carley is the man employed to wind up the former Australian internationals on the host broadcaster this evening. I cannot wait to find out in real time what he apparently gets wrong, and how it robs the Wallabies.
After celebrating James Slipper last week for becoming only the third player after Alun Wyn Jones and Sam Whitelock to reach 150 Test caps, we salute the 36-year-old again tonight, following his decision earlier this week to retire from the international game.
“Slips is the sort of guy if you asked him to keep going for the team and the team needed him, he’d keep going, but he’s ready to hang his boots up and he’s also conscious he wants the team to be best prepared going forward,” Joe Schmidt said.
“He doesn’t perceive himself being available for the Rugby World Cup or even next season, so, for him, the best thing is the next five games we’ve got in the spring tour for the players we’ve got to start sharing that time and for him to step away. But he’ll be missed massively, not just for on-field performance, but he’s a big bit of the glue that keeps a team tight.”
New Zealand XV
Five changes to the starting XV for the Wallabies – six for the All Blacks, four of them injury enforced. Among the half-dozen, Scott Barrett returns to skipper the side, Damien McKenzie replaces the injured Beauden Barrett at five-eighth, and Leicester Fainga’anuku comes in for Caleb Clarke.
It’s an inexperienced line-up with five starters with under ten caps to their name, and a further four that have yet to pass 30 international appearances.
1.Tamaiti Williams, 2. Codie Taylor, 3. Fletcher Newell, 4. Scott Barrett, 5. Fabian Holland, 6. Simon Parker, 7. Ardie Savea, 8. Peter Lakai, 9. Cam Roigard, 10. Damian McKenzie, 11. Leicester Fainga’anuku, 12. Jordie Barrett, 13. Quinn Tupaea, 14. Leroy Carter, 15. Will Jordan.
Replacements: 16. Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17. George Bower, 18. Pasilio Tosi, 19. Patrick Tuipulotu, 20. Wallace Sititi, 21. Cortez Ratima, 22. Rieko Ioane, 23. Ruben Love
Australia XV
Another round, another raft of changes for the Wallabies. Yet again there is an entirely new halves combination with Tane Edmed earning a second start in the 10 jersey, this time alongside Jake Gordon, who replaces the injured Tate McDermott. Elsewhere, Filipo Daugunu is preferred to Corey Toole on the wing, Allan Alaalatoa pushes Taniela Tupou to the bench, and Lukhan Salakaia-Loto makes way for the return of Australia’s most significant performer, Will Skelton, who is on short-term loan from club rugby in France.
Josh Nasser, Tom Robertson, Rob Valetini, and Josh Flook all come into the 23.
1 James Slipper, 2 Billy Pollard, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 4 Nick Frost, 5 Will Skelton, 6 Tom Hooper, 7 Fraser McReight, 8 Harry Wilson (captain), 9 Jake Gordon, 10 Tane Edmed, 11 Filipo Daugunu, 12 Len Ikitau, 13 Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, 14 Harry Potter, 15 Max Jorgensen.
Replacements: 16 Josh Nasser, 17 Tom Robertson, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Jeremy Williams, 20 Rob Valetini, 21 Ryan Lonergan, 22 James O’Connor, 23 Josh Flook.
More on R360 as rugby’s authorities try their best to sound like they remain in control.
If you need reminding what happened last Saturday, the All Blacks flattered to deceive in a 33-24 victory at Eden Park. For the Wallabies it was yet another case of chasing a game that span out of control in the opening 20 minutes.
Jack Snape sets the scene for today’s fixture, including speculation over the thrusting R360 start-up that is beginning to take shape.
R360, which promises a global series in non-traditional markets such as Dubai and Boston kicking off in the second half of next year, threatens to insert another divide into a sport where club contracts and the international rugby calendar are already at odds.
Rugby Australia is waiting for details, but has warned that players who sign with R360 will not be eligible for the Wallabies. It’s another potential blow for the national side, having only recently eased restrictions on selecting overseas-based players under Schmidt in a view to make the Wallabies as competitive as possible.
Preamble
Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of Australia v New Zealand in round six of the 2025 Rugby Championship. Kick-off at Optus Stadium in Perth is scheduled for 5.45pm AWST (7.45pm AEST).
The Bledisloe Cup has been decided for another year, and the Rugby Championship looks destined to be retained by the Springboks, but there is still plenty to make the final Test of 2025 on Australian soil one worth tuning in for.
It has been a winter of positivity for the Wallabies under Joe Schmidt, but as spring blossoms it is still impossible to determine exactly what it all means. The team is clearly on an upward trajectory as it rebuilds from the low base of the 2023 World Cup debacle, but has still lost 12 of its past 19 internationals, and the 2025 record currently stands at four wins from nine matches.
Half those victories came in the dying seconds against lower ranked tourists – but then one of the others was a dominant victory against the British and Irish Lions, and another a history-making triumph in Johannesburg. I am not qualified to determine which of these data points are signal and which are noise.
Much of the nuts and bolts have appeared in good order: the set piece has operated effectively, Harry Wilson can be penciled in for a long stint as skipper, and the depth of talent is as strong as it has been in over a decade. Counterbalancing this is the high turnover of players – especially through injury, the inability to find a halfback partnership, and chronic disciplinary issues.
The dispassionate World Rugby rankings place Australia in seventh spot. On points, this ranks them pretty much halfway between Georgia, in eleventh, and leaders South Africa. If the Wallabies can’t ascend to at least sixth between now and the end of the upcoming European tour then the 2027 World Cup on home soil will become considerably more awkward.
A strong performance in Perth would provide a springboard for this northern hemisphere odyssey, while defeat could see each subsequent Test this year as a backs-to-the-wall grasp for ranking points.
I’ll be back with the line-ups shortly. If you want to get in touch this evening, the address is jonathan.howcroft.casual@theguardian.com.
