Late Burke penalty sinks All-Blacks

Australia 16 New Zealand 14

Australia 16 New Zealand 14

Matthew Burke landed a pressure-laden penalty with the last kick of the match to secure a 16-14 victory as Australia retained the Bledisloe Cup and drew level with New Zealand in the Tri-Nations rugby series today.

South African referee Andre Watson gave the Wallabies the chance for the last-gasp win when he penalised the All Blacks for a ruck infringement with Australia camped inside their quarter.

The siren sounded and Burke landed only his second kick of the night to the great jubilation of his Wallaby teammates in yet another famous Australian victory at the death.

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The Australians scored two tries to one and led 8-3 at half-time before 79,543 fans at the Olympic stadium in Sydney.

Burke's successful kick stretched the Wallabies' ownership of the Bledisloe Cup to five seasons and again denied their great Antipodean rivals the opportunity to beat them after winning the first match 12-6 in Christchurch three weeks ago.

Australia and New Zealand are on top of the Tri-Nations with 10 points with matches to come against South Africa.

Andrew Mehrtens, who was influential in the try-less Christchurch match with four penalty goals, kicked three more on Saturday, but Richie McCaw's try to put the All Blacks in front for the first time in the 48th minute was not enough to stall off Australia's furious late rally.

Scorers
Australia:Tries - Nathan Sharpe, Mat Rogers Penalty goals - Matthew Burke (2)

New Zealand:Try - Richie McCaw. Penalty goals - Andrew Mehrtens (3).