Roigard's kicking game unlocks All Blacks' high-ball dominance over Wallabies at Eden Park

New Zealand dismantled Australia’s high-ball game at Eden Park on Saturday night, with coach Dave Rennie pointing to halfback Cam Roigard’s kicking as the tactical shift that unlocked a dominant aerial performance from the All Blacks.

The result marked a sharp turnaround from the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series against South Africa last month, where the Springboks repeatedly built attacking momentum by winning contestable kicks against New Zealand. In Auckland, the roles were reversed, with Jordie Barrett and Will Jordan starring in the air against a Wallabies backline that had itself outperformed South Africa in that department just a fortnight earlier.

“I thought Cam’s kicking was excellent and allowed us to put a lot of pressure on,” Rennie said at the post-match press conference. “We kicked a bit more off nine than we have been. Receiving teams are catching one out of four — that’s the nature of the game at the moment. Our guys did an excellent job at either winning it in the air or picking up scraps.”

Jordan, who finished the match as captain after Codie Taylor left the field, said there was “plenty of edge in camp throughout the week” as New Zealand sought to extend their unbeaten Eden Park record and retain the Bledisloe Cup. He echoed Rennie’s assessment, highlighting how Roigard’s decision to pull kicks back by around five metres gave the chasers the time and angle to contest effectively.

“Cam did a great job with his kicking game to just pull it back five or so metres to allow us to get up in the air — the likes of myself, Jordie, and Leroy Carter,” Jordan said. “We just stuck to the plan that we’ve had the whole year around the retreat system. There were a couple in South Africa where it didn’t work, but I thought we did a good job to stick to that.”

Jordan also noted that Barrett’s willingness to chase longer kicks produced dominant tackles, adding another dimension to the aerial pressure New Zealand generated throughout the 80 minutes.

“It’s always going to be a point of emphasis for us,” Jordan added. “It’s a good win tonight, but it’s going to be important moving forward.”

The performance will offer significant encouragement to Rennie’s side, who had faced pointed criticism over their vulnerability under the high ball during the South Africa series. Whether the adjustment proves durable against top-tier opposition remains to be seen, but the Eden Park showing suggested the All Blacks have found a workable solution — at least for now.