It's still the Garden of Eden for All Blacks

The temptation is to declare this a great All Blacks' victory led by a stirring display from their stand-in skipper. But this result will always have the proverbial asterisk beside it because of a farcical red card dished out to Boks enforcer Bismarck du Plessis, just minutes into the second half.

Yes, the All Blacks won well to extend their undefeated run in 2013 to seven tests and make it four from four in this Rugby Championship. And, yes, Kieran Read was magnificent as he led his men admirably in the absence of the injured Richie McCaw and scored a try in each half for good measure.

But for nearly half of this contest it was 15 men against 14 - du Plessis sinbinned in the first half for a flat-out bad decision - and red carded less than two minutes into the second half for a raised elbow in a tackle. That tilted this delicious match decisively in the home team's favour.

The All Blacks did what they had to. They didn't make the borderline calls. Read led brilliantly, Brodie Retallick produced another scintillating display of his all-round skills, and flankers Sam Cane and Liam Messam stood up to their physical challenges splendidly.

The scrums were a mess throughout - a glaring advertisement for the fact the new regulations haven't worked. Beauden Barrett also stepped in admirably for the injured Dan Carter after just quarter of an hour and was decisive in all he did, while the rest of the backs played their parts in a high-tempo contest.

The match did take a toll on the All Blacks. Carter's shoulder looks bad, while Israel Dagg departed at halftime with a leg injury.

The Boks were all fire and brimstone, but were taken out of the contest by the du Plessis red card. We won't know how good they really are until the return at Ellis Park.

After all the talk about whether the All Blacks would cope with the Bok physicality, it took just three minutes for the home side to answer those doubts with a rollicking forward try to skipper Read. It came after Ma'a Nonu's cleverly angled kick had set up a lineout just 5m out, and once Owen Franks made the first hitup, it was left to Read to power over with a little help from his mates for an early 7-0 lead.

Morne Steyn got the South Africans on the board five minutes later with his first penalty, and then things really kicked off in an action-packed 16th minute when the All Blacks lost Carter, and the Boks lost du Plessis to the sinbin.

The hooker's shoulder charge on Carter looked dodgy, but replays showed the hit was legit and that referee Romain Poite had over-reacted big time.

The All Blacks may have lost their master playmaker in the incident, but not their cool once everything settled down after some pushing and shoving.

Barrett made a bad start when he missed touch off a penalty, but made up for that in the 22nd minute when his big break up the middle set up Retallick for a clean run between the posts.

At 14-3 down, the Boks were not done. Just after the half-hour mark they declined a shot at goal and were rewarded when the returned du Plessis was driven over via a 10-man shove. Only a late Barrett penalty extended the All Blacks' lead to seven by the half.

Then the game turned. Two minutes after the restart du Plessis had raised his elbow into the throat area of Liam Messam, and Poite had flourished his second yellow card for the tough hooker, followed shortly by the obligatory red.

From there - as is the way with these things - the contest was effectively decided.

The All Blacks added second-half tries to Read and Sam Cane, who had a storming game, to bring up the bonus point, and a match-winning 29-10 lead with a dozen minutes left.

It then got rather ugly. The All Blacks lost Read (lineout infringement) and Ma'a Nonu (late shoulder charge) to yellow cards, and suddenly the Boks pounced with a 75th-minute try to Pat Lambie off Steyn's nicely weighted cross-kick.

At 29-15, the visitors had a sniff of a bonus point, but the match finished with the All Blacks making the tackles they needed to and the visitors denied a crumb of consolation.

The All Blacks continue their 19-year, now 32-test unbeaten run on Eden Park, and the Boks must wait for another tilt at ending their own 76-year hoodoo on the ground. But one thing is for sure - the rematch, and championship decider, at Ellis Park in will be something special.

UPSIDE

The days of the All Blacks needing Richie McCaw and/or Dan Carter to operate near their best may be over. With the skip absent and Carter lasting just 15 minutes, the New Zealand machine ticked along nicely. But, of course, that red card leaves us unable to make any definitive judgments.

DOWNSIDE

Bismarck du Plessis' dreadfully unlucky sending off for two so-called yellow card offences was a stain on what was shaping as a wonderful test. Rugby's ridiculous red card rules ruin another big occasion and leave us thirsting for the rematch in Jo'burg.

STAR MAN

The All Blacks have themselves a new Captain Fantastic. Kieran Read was magnificent, with a try in each half, as he muscled up big time to show the Boks they're not the only tough guys running round in international rugby. Quality leadership too.

New Zealand 29 (Kieran Read 2, Brodie Retallick, Sam Cane tries; Dan Carter con; Beauden Barrett pen, 2 cons)South Africa 15 (Bismarck du Plessis, Patrick Lambie tries; Morne Steyn pen, con). Ht: 17-10

All Blacks just too strong for Wallabies

If you're starting to take this All Black dominance of Australia for granted, banish those thoughts.

New Zealand's vice-like grip on the Bledisloe Cup - and Wallaby rugby minds - is now so absolute it should be considered a national treasure.

Steve Hansen's All Blacks tonight secured the Bledisloe Cup for an 11th consecutive season as they despatched the Wallabies for the second straight week with another very impressive performance, winning 27-16.

Sure, it was a bit more competitive, a bit less comprehensive in front of a sellout crowd of 38,000 at the Cake Tin. But this was still an All Blacks outfit operating at a higher level than the Wallabies, able to dominate the set piece, eventually the breakdown and certainly the kicking contest.

Israel Folau's late intercept try made it all look a bit more respectable, but this was still a quality display from an All Blacks side who are going to be very hard to peg back in the Rugby Championship.

It was also a brilliant way to mark Tony Woodcock's 100th test, with the veteran loosehead prop becoming just the fourth All Black centurion. The sight of the black scrum making mincemeat of the Wallabies in the second half indicated he enjoyed himself immensely out there.

It was a fabulous debut from 24-year-old Cantab Tom Taylor at first five, too, before he went off late with a rib injury. The kid was composed, slotted five of his eight shots at goal and for a fourth-string No 10 he looks a classy operator indeed.

It was also another good night for Ben Smith on the wing, with two more tries to add to his growing haul. His only black mark was a bad tackle miss on James O'Connor, but we'll forgive him that as he continues to thrive out wide on the right. It was heartening, too, to see Israel Dagg running with real intent.

The forwards, of course, played their part, dominant at the scrum and eventually at the breakdown once the early Aussie fury was contained. They also caused plenty of mischief at the Wallaby lineout. Steven Luatua continues to look a natural at this level, Kieran Read and Richie McCaw again got through a ton of work and Brodie Retallick also had a strong game.

"We put them under a lot of pressure at scrum time and even at the lineout in the end we started to dominate on their throw," said Hansen when asked what got his team home. "The biggest factor was our ability to make the most of our opportunities. When we had opportunities, we scored."

McCaw said the Wallabies gave them real problems early at the breakdown, but important adjustments were made. "They brought the intensity we expected but probably didn't match for the first period. But we hung in there and when the momentum did change we capitalised on their mistakes."The Wallabies started with a hiss and a roar, but lost their shape as the game went on. Their kick game was again sub-par, and they fell off too many tackles. The good news for Ewen McKenzie is that he doesn't see the All Blacks again till the now dead third Bledisloe in a couple of month' time.

The Wallabies had brought the intensity through the opening half, but once again it was the All Blacks who revealed the strike power for a decisive 15-6 lead.

Naturally both of their first-half tries went to Ben Smith who can do no wrong at the moment. You get the feeling if he was dropped in a mud puddle he'd come up smelling of roses the way things are rolling for him.

They call him 'the Ghost' in this team, and he's certainly popping up in all the right places. Smith's two first-half touchdowns, both courtesy of brilliant handling inside, took his tally for the year's tests to seven in five matches, and five in the last two against the Wallabies.

The first came around the 27-minute mark, with the All Blacks trailing 6-0. Read did very well to snaffle an Israel Dagg high kick, and from there Conrad Smith, Ma'a Nonu, Luatua and Dagg played their part to put Ben Smith into space on the right.

Taylor slotted his first penalty, then narrowly missed a real thump from 52 metres out before the All Blacks struck again right in the shadow of halftime.

This time it was the impressive Luatua who carved the opening when he sliced clean through the defence and was only brought down short of the line by Michael Hooper's desperate tackle.

But Luatua did well to get back to his feet, and from there it was more crisp hands right, and that man Smith over in the corner for a score that must have knocked the stuffing out of the Wallabies.

The All Blacks failed to cross the Australian line in the second half, content to rack up four penalties to make the game safe, and Folau struck late when he snaffled Nonu's loose pass to dash 70m.

But this was New Zealand's night again. Too good, too strong. One more year, Australia.

New Zealand 27 (Ben Smith 2 tries; Tom Taylor 4 pens, con; Israel Dagg pen), Australia 16 (Israel Folau try; Christian Leali'ifano 3 pens, con). HT: 15-6

Kiwis beat Australia 47-29 in Rugby Championship

SYDNEY (AP) New Zealand opened the Rugby Championship with a commanding 47-29 victory over Australia on Saturday, extending its dominance over its trans-Tasman rival and spoiling Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie's first game in charge.

Despite missing star flyhalf Dan Carter through injury, the All Blacks always looked in control against a mistake-prone Australia. Ben Smith scored a hat trick of tries, and Aaron Cruden, Richie McCaw and Conrad Smith also crossed in a bonus-point win for the world champions at Sydney's Olympic stadium.

Will Genia and James O'Connor scored tries for the hosts.

The All Blacks will retain the Bledisloe Cup a trophy contested annually between the Australasian rivals for the 11th straight year with a victory next week in Wellington.

"I am obviously very happy with the performance," All Blacks coach Steve Hansen said. "It's not every day that you can come here and get 40 odd points. It's important to be a winning team, but you've got to keep humble and your feet on the floor because you've got to win again next week.

"The Bledisloe Cup, you have to win twice, so we haven't done anything yet. We've only done a small part of the job, but until we win two, we don't win it."

On this performance, McKenzie will need a vast improvement from his players if they are to have any chance of competing in the four-team Rugby Championship, which also features South Africa and Argentina.

"Every time you lose a game it's disappointing," McKenzie said. "We were level pegging there for some time in the game, but you have to respect possession.

"We didn't control the ball and they were able to play and do some of the things they're good at, and you pay a price for that."

Australia captain James Horwill said his team paid a heavy price for its mistakes.

"They're very good. They show it by the way they play, the way they capitalize on turnovers, and they understand the way they want to play because they have done it for a long time together," he said. "They are No. 1 in the world for a reason."

As was the case in the lost series to the British and Irish Lions in June and July, the Wallabies made its cause difficult with numerous individual errors, giving the visitors frequent scoring opportunities.

Stephen Moore's knock-on in the opening minutes gave the All Blacks an early opportunity to pressure the Wallabies goal-line defense. It was a chance they eagerly grasped, with Aaron Cruden getting on the outside of James O'Connor and flicking a one-handed pass for Ben Smith to cross unchallenged for a converted try after four minutes.

The Wallabies were given a penalty chance when Kieran Read barged into Rob Simmons off a high midfield kick. Center Christian Lealiifano made no mistake to narrow the deficit to 7-3.

Australia closed to within a point on 12 minutes through Lealiifano after referee Craig Joubert penalized New Zealand captain Richie McCaw for playing the ball while off his feet at the ruck.

Both teams traded penalties before a poor attempted clearance by Lealiifano was charged down by Cruden, with the flyhalf able to score with ease for a 17-12 lead.

The home team's task was made harder when Jesse Mogg's clearance kick failed to find touch in the 33rd minute. After several phases close to the Wallabies line, Aaron Smith fired a wide pass that eventually allowed the returning McCaw to dive over in the corner to make it 22-12.

"For Richie to come back after having the break and everyone doubted him. To get through the 70 minutes like he did just shows the character of the bloke once again, so hopefully there won't be any more doubters," Hansen said.

The Wallabies received a lifeline after the All Blacks fumbled the ball on its line-out. It was swooped on by Michael Hooper, who passed the ball for Will Genia to sprint 60 yards and beat Cruden, Ben Smith and Israel Dagg's attempted tackles to score under the posts. Lealiifano added the extras to narrow the score to 22-19.

In keeping with the see-saw nature of the first half, the Wallabies were caught offside in the final minute of the half, giving Cruden a simple penalty shot for the visitors to lead 25-19 at halftime.

The Wallabies started the second half brightly and Lealiifano again drew the Wallabies within three points with another penalty.

In the 51st minute, the Wallabies conspired to allow the All Blacks score its fourth try, and a bonus point, when Mogg dropped off Conrad Smith, allowing the center to dash over under the posts for a 32-22 lead.

The hosts' misery was compounded when the All Blacks won possession on Australia's scrum feed in the 57th minute and quickly played the ball wide. Ben Smith found space to dive over in the corner to end the match as a contest.

Quade Cooper was brought on from the bench in the 61st minute, his first international appearance since September 2012. The Queensland Reds playmaker was greeted by a chorus of boos from the large All Black supporter contingent among the crowd of 68,765 people.

Cruden continued to impress, slotting a penalty in the 66th to bring up 40 points for the All Blacks.

"People have questioned Aaron Cruden at times at this level, and I think he showed tonight that he's a true international player of world-class ability and he led the team very well," Hansen said.

Ben Smith scored his deserved hat trick in the 71st, latching on to a spilt ball at a ruck to dash to the line.

Australia scored a late consolation try when O'Connor found space out wide in New Zealand's defensive line.

___

Scores:

New Zealand 47 (Ben Smith 3, Aaron Cruden, Richie McCaw, Conrad Smith tries; Cruden 3 conversions, 3 penalties, Beauden Barrett conversion) def. Australia 29 (Will Genia, James O'Connor tries; Christian Lealiifano 2 conversion, 5 penalties). Halftime: 25-19.

Rugby: All Blacks thump France

It was the French coach who called for the clinical rugby this week, but the All Blacks who delivered it in making their first decisive move of Steve Hansen's ambitious plan to regenerate his world champions.

After a rusty and stop-start effort in Auckland last week, this was more like it from the new-generation All Blacks, shutting out France 30-0.

Even though it had been French coach Philippe Saint-Andre who had challenged his team to deliver a more clinical performance in the second hitout of this three-test series, it was the New Zealanders who made the serious step up in execution and class.

The All Blacks won the kicking battle by a handsome margin with a display that was on the mark right from the first swing of their boot, and from there they backed it up with a chase game to match, and a vastly improved effort at the set piece.

Led brilliantly by Kieran Read in his 50th test, the home players won all the big battles and made all the big statements on a heartening night for the future of the world's No 1 team.

The French were never in this contest, pinned in the wrong parts of the field for long periods and never able to find the holes in the All Black defence that they'd managed a week earlier. It was the first time in their history they have failed to score against the All Blacks.

It was a top-drawer effort from the world champs on a cool night in front of a sellout crowd of nearly 22,000. They ran in three scintillating tries and outplayed the visitors from go to whoa.

Several players made serious statements too. Up front Read was back to his blockbusting best, one 50m run in the first half a classic example of that. Sam Whitelock was special in a late callup from the injury ward, dominant in the lineout and matching the off-the-charts workrate of Brodie Retallick from the week earlier.

The scrum was strong, lineout outstanding and Sam Cane and Liam Messam also had very good tests in a much improved breakdown effort. Ma'a Nonu was the backline star, but he headed a stellar cast with Ben Smith, Conrad Smith, Israel Dagg and a much sharper Aaron Cruden all confirming their class. Julian Savea, too, caused all sorts of problems with his hard running.

It had been a swift start from the All Blacks on the back of - would you believe? - two quality kicks from Nonu for an early 7-0 lead. The first forced the French to throw to the lineout 10 metres from their line and the second, after a nice piece of mid-air thievery from Sam Whitelock, put Savea in for his 13th try in just his 11th test.

It was clear from the outset that the world champions had a game-plan based around playing in the right parts of a fairly sodden field, and their kicking game (as well as chasing one) was right on the money.

That the home team took just a 10-0 led into the sheds after 40 pretty dominant minutes was slightly disappointing. With the French lineout in disarray, the visitors spent much of the half buried deep in their own territory and would have been ecstatic to leak just a further three points via Cruden's boot.

Nonu, who was back to his line-breaking best, made a clean break just shy of the half-hour mark that probably should have yielded a try. But Dagg was held up and the French escaped without damage.

It was that sort of a half for the All Blacks. They were switched on and dominant, but just could not rattle up the points to go with their ascendancy. No doubt Hansen's message at the break was a pretty simple one: "Stick with it, fellas, the rewards will come."

Sure enough, that 10-point lead grew to 17 after 10 minutes with a stunning seven-pointer to wing Ben Smith - just his third try in his 14th test.

Ironically, it came after a period of sustained French pressure as they rumbled into the All Blacks' red zone. But the home defence was up to the challenge, tackle after tackle driving back the multi-phase French attack, until eventually Frederic Michalak resorted to a desperation dropped goal attempt that was charged down by Cane.

From there the men in black pounced. Possession was snaffled 60m out, young hooker Dane Coles made a very good decision to find Savea on the inpass and he put Ben Smith in for an unchallenged run to the posts.

There was time yet for one more flourish - with a stunning length-of-the field breakout that started with Cruden's wide pass to Rene Ranger and ended with substitute Beauden Barrett dashing clear to dot down between the posts.

Brilliant try to cap a brilliant night for the All Blacks.

All Blacks 30 (Julian Savea, Ben Smith, Beauden Barrett tries; Aaron Cruden 3 cons, 3 pen) France 0. HT: 10-0.

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