New Zealand overpowered Australia 32-19 in their Bledisloe Cup clash in Tokyo yesterday to record a seventh straight test win over their rivals.

The All Blacks had destroyed Australia 33-6 in an explosive Tri-Nations sign-off six weeks ago but were pushed harder by the Wallabies in front of a crowd of 44,000 in Tokyo.

After two early penalties from flyhalf Matt Giteau put Australia up 6-0, New Zealand winger Sitiveni Sivivatu scored the game's first try in the 21st minute after a superb flowing move.

Sivivatu was sin-binned in the 34th minute for wiping out Peter Hynes as he went for a high ball and his absence had swift consequences as a wide-open Hynes dived in at the corner flag moments later.

Giteau converted from the sideline to give the Wallabies a 16-13 half-time advantage they could have extended after being camped on the All Blacks' goal line for the last five minutes of the first period.

Conrad Smith burst through after a clever hand-off from flyhalf Daniel Carter to restore New Zealand's lead six minutes into the second half.

Carter's left boot converted four more penalties to stretch the lead as the All Blacks wore down the Australians in the second half of their fourth and final meeting of the year.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.