Australia kept the Bledisloe Cup for a third successive year and stayed in the hunt for its first Tri Nations rugby title when captain John Eales kicked it to a dramatic 24-23 win over New Zealand here today.
With New Zealand ahead 23-21 three minutes into injury time and the crowd calling for the fulltime whistle, the All Blacks lost two successive line-outs on their own throw as Australia kicked the ball to the New Zealand quarter line from where Eales slotted home the penalty.
Eales stepped up to take his only kick for the match after Stirling Mortlock missed a long range penalty attempt in the 36th minute to finish with four successful shots out of seven.
South African referee Jonathan Kaplan immediately blew fulltime and was pelted with bottles by a hostile Wellington crowd as he left the field.
The All Blacks led 20-18 at halftime after another exhilaratingly first half but a dour and desperate second half yielded only a penalty goal apiece until Eales' dramatic kick from slightly to the right of the posts levelled the two match series.
New Zealand had won the first Test in Sydney in equally dramatic circumstances, Jonah Lomu scoring the winning try in the dying minutes as the All Blacks won 39-35.
Australia raced to a 12-0 lead after 15 minutes but in a reduced mirror image of the first Test three weeks ago, the New Zealanders hit back to lead 14-12 eight minutes later following fullback Christian Cullen's second try from a brilliantly executed set move.
Five-eighth Andrew Mehrtens, the devastating Tana Umaga and Lomu combined with several switches of direction to send Cullen racing for the line to equalise with Mehrtens' conversion giving the All Blacks the lead.
Four tries came in the first half, with Australian centre Daniel Herbert busting through the defence to set up Mortlock in the second minute and had a hand in Joe Roff's try in the 15th minute.
The lead changed hands four times in the last three minutes of the half as Mortlock and Mehrtens exchanged two penalties each, with the All Blacks gaining the edge on the halftime whistle.
Mehrtens finished with three penalties and two conversions. Australia and New Zealand now share top spot on the Tri Nations table with 10 points each, with both playing South Africa later this month.
AUSTRALIA 24 (Stirling Mortlock Joe Roff tries Mortlock 3, John Eales penalty goals Mortlock 1 goal) bt NEW ZEALAND 23 (Christian Cullen 2 tries Andrew Mehrtens 3 penalty goals, 2 goals). Referee: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa). Crowd: 36,500 at WestpacTrust Stadium, Wellington.
Full match report