The All Blacks team secured a convincing victory over Australia with a score of 50-19 on Saturday, thereby extending their impressive unbeaten streak at Eden Park stadium and retaining the Bledisloe Cup.
Before halftime, the hosts led 17-14, but in the second half they scored five points, increasing their continuous run of matches without defeat at the Auckland arena to 54.
The hosts left behind the disappointment of a recent 3-1 loss to South Africa, while also giving the Wallabies their first defeat in six matches under coach Lewa Kiss since his appointment after Joe Schmidt in July.
Thanks to seven touchdowns scored, the All Blacks retain the Bledisloe Cup—a trophy contested annually between the two nations—for another twenty-third year in a row, regardless of the result of the second test, which will take place next week in Sydney.
The match in Sydney takes on added significance as the same two teams will meet there a year later in the Rugby World Cup group stage.
Damian McKenzie earned 15 points with a kick and helped initiate coordinated All Blacks attacks from the fly-half position. However, it was Ben Donaldson who created both of Australia's touchdowns in the first half by cleverly passing the ball to fullback Tom Wright for the first try.
New Zealand quickly responded with touchdowns from backline players Peter Lekai and Tupu Va'a, with McKenzie playing a role in breaking through twice.
McKenzie's penalty put the hosts ahead 17-7, but Donaldson's breakthrough allowed Wallabies captain Harry Wilson to score just before the break.
After the break, New Zealand took control of the game, and a series of quick attacks led to touchdowns from scrum-half Kama Roigard and captain Cody Taylor.
Any hopes of the Australian defensive barrier disappeared when Leroy Carter supported the outstanding Lekai by scoring a try. Carter apparently injured his leg during the scoring process, which casts doubt on his participation in the Sydney test.
Substitutes for Carter, Josh Murphy and Will Jordan, both scored for New Zealand late, and Josh Nasser concluded Australia's scoring.
