All Blacks battle all the way for win

NEW ZEALAND defeated Australia for the second time in a week but had to hit hit back from 17-0 down and needed a last-gasp try from Beauden Barrett to triumph yesterday in Dunedin.

The gap was narrowed to 17-14 by half-time, setting up a pulsating second half, that saw the lead change hands several times before Barrett crossed for the second time two minutes from time to gift the Kiwis a hard-fought win.

Israel Folau ran the length of the field after collecting a misplaced pass from Damian McKenzie to open the scoring inside the first 30 seconds.

The home fans were further silenced when Michael Hooper barged out of a driving maul and through poor tackling to touch down before the flanker teed up Will Genia to go over.

But Rieko Ioane got New Zealand on the scoresheet after collecting a ‘no-look’ inside pass from scrum-half Aaron Smith, who then touched down on the hooter, after sustained pressure from the hosts.

Barrett got his first just after the hour to put New Zealand in front. Although Australia retook the lead in the 67th minute when Genia ran through a ruck, they held a one-point advantage due to the goalkicking of Foley and Barrett.

A topsy-turvy half continued when Ben Smith touched down on the overlap eight minutes from time only for Australia to respond shortly afterwards when a bloodied Kurtley Beale burst through a gap to score under the posts.

That left Foley with a simple conversion to give Australia a one-point lead with four minutes remaining.

New Zealand, though, were able to win the ball from the restart and an offload from Kieran Read allowed TJ Perenara to put through Barrett, who ran to the line unchallenged to cap a dramatic encounter.