Australia vs New Zealand Predictions - All Blacks to dominate Bledisloe Cup fixture

Form over the last two rounds however point towards the All Blacks dominating. I’m backing the visitors to cover the -14 handicap with ease.

New Zealand have won seven of their last eight matches against Australia. When they met last in the Rugby Championship in 2022, the All Blacks won 40-14 at Eden Park

Australia have lost both of their Rugby Championship matches in 2023. Eddie Jones will have to make a dramatic turnaround if they are to avoid the wooden spoon this year.

While it is a tough environment for Jones to immediately get results, with the World Cup around the corner, he needs the Wallabies to start putting it big performances.

On the opening weekend, Australia were comfortably beaten in South Africa before losing in dramatic fashion to Argentina on home soil a fortnight ago.

While that game could have gone either way, Argentina were largely the better side over 80 minutes. If the Wallabies don’t up their game in this Bledisloe Cup test, things could get ugly quite fast.

Eddie Jones is once again expected to make changes to his side. He has very little time ahead of the World Cup to test players and combinations, so he’ll have to use games such as this.

New Zealand had an inconsistent 2021 and 2022 where many thought their rugby was on the down. Late last year and this year they have been extraordinarily consistent though which has them on a nine-game winning run.

The All Blacks comfortably saw off Argentina away from home in round one of the Rugby Championship. Their big test was, however, against the Springboks in Auckland the following week.

That went even better as they played some of their best rugby over the last few years in the opening 20 minutes. That blitz carried them into a 17-0 lead and a 20-3 half-time lead. 

While the second half was a lot tighter and the South Africans briefly fought their way into the game, the All Blacks were too good in the end, winning 35-20.

While New Zealand were superb in their last outing, they will almost certainly make changes. Ahead of the World Cup Ian Foster will have to ensure everyone gets sufficient time in their legs.