Bledisloe joy for All Blacks

New Zealand claimed the Bledisloe Cup with a convincing 22-0 win over Australia in Auckland.

The All Blacks, who won 27-19 in Sydney last week, were never really troubled by the Wallabies - who had defended manfully, but lacked direction in attack.

Dan Carter led the way with 17 points, while Israel Dagg finally breached the Australia defence after the break.

Despite having the mercurial Quade Cooper back at fly-half, Australia were disappointing going forward and, baring a brief spell in the second half, they offered very little.

And in truth the scoreline could have been wider, with New Zealand having fashioned a wealth of opportunities.

New Zealand had the best chances to score during the opening exchanges, with only a superb cover tackle from Adam Ashley-Cooper denying Dagg, while Liam Messam was held up over the line.

Carter, though, finally moved the All Blacks into the lead with a penalty after 25 minutes.

And having held out for so long, the Wallabies were dealt another blow when Will Genia was yellow carded - and Carter added the three points from the resulting penalty.

Monster

The visitors, though, continued to defend for their lives - with the All Blacks only able to add another Carter penalty before the interval.

Carter landed his fourth successful kick of the match with a monster 51m effort two minutes into the second half.

And the game was effectively put out of sight soon as New Zealand went through the phases before quick ball from Aaron Smith found a superb running line of Dagg for the full-back to score.

Carter converted and then added another penalty to move New Zealand 22-0 in front.

Australia finally had their best spell and they thought they had found a way through but a desperate tackle from Kieran Read denied Berrick Barnes.

And the All Blacks reassumed their dominance, with Smith and Dagg both having good breaks - while Read lost the ball reaching for the line.

The hosts coughed up another couple of chances when Richie McCaw dropped the ball trying to spin over after Hosea Gear had been held up, while Carter passed to no one when it looked easier to score.