All Blacks flatten the Wallabies 50-19 at Eden Park to keep the Bledisloe Cup, ending Les Kiss’s unbeaten run
New Zealand beat Australia 50-19 at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday in the first Bledisloe Cup Test of the series and kept the trophy, the BBC, the Guardian, Reuters, the Herald and L’Équipe reported. The Wallabies had not won at Eden Park since 1986 and were competitive in the first half, with Tom Wright scoring their first points, but the All Blacks scored seven tries, L’Équipe said, the bulk of them after the break. The Herald said Les Kiss’s unbeaten run as Wallabies coach was over. The Herald reported that Leroy Carter was injured scoring a try after a hip-drop tackle by Rob Valetini. The BBC counts the 23rd straight year of New Zealand’s hold on the cup, the Guardian the 24th.
The cup has not been in Australian hands since 2002, and a second-half collapse at Eden Park raises doubts about how competitive the Wallabies will be a year before they host the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
If you were up early for the match, the series is not over: there is a second Test to come, though we could not confirm its date. Watch whether Valetini faces a citing or ban for the tackle.
The Wallabies showed enough in the first half to suggest the gap is smaller than the scoreboard, and Kiss has built something in a short time.
A 31-point loss to a side that came in off three straight defeats shows the old problem at Eden Park: the Wallabies could not hold their first-half standard for 80 minutes.
Look past the 50 points. The more useful number is how many kicks the Wallabies failed to field in the second half, which the Herald’s review pointed to. If that is fixed in a week, the second Test will be closer.
DailyDrop Australia edition No. 7 · Morning · SUN., OCT. 11, 2026