Wright admits Wallabies 'faced the music' after 50-19 Eden Park rout as Bledisloe II looms

Tom Wright acknowledged the Wallabies had to “face the music” after a 50-19 defeat to the All Blacks at Eden Park last Saturday extended Australia’s losing run against New Zealand to 12 consecutive Tests, with the Bledisloe Cup retained by the All Blacks for a 24th straight year.

The Wallabies had given themselves genuine hope in the first half, with Wright himself opening the scoring after Ben Donaldson and Max Jorgensen combined to send the fullback slicing through the All Blacks’ defensive line. Australia dominated possession in the opening ten minutes and the game remained a three-point contest at the break, but New Zealand pulled away decisively after the interval.

Cam Roigard crossed for a pivotal try early in the second half, before captain Codie Taylor extended the lead further. Leroy Carter, Josh Moorby and Will Jordan also got on the scoresheet as the All Blacks ran out 31-point winners, extending their extraordinary unbeaten home record at Eden Park to 54 Tests — a run stretching back to the 1990s. The Wallabies made more than 200 tackles on the night and conceded 10 penalties, with New Zealand ruthlessly capitalising on the opportunities presented.

“The music of the scoreboard. No one wants to be on the receiving end of 50 points. No one wants to be on the receiving end of a loss,” Wright told reporters. “At 17-14, we’re right in the contest. The game was there to be taken.”

Wright, who has won just one of his 52 Tests against the All Blacks — a debut victory in Brisbane in November 2020 — said the squad had come together to confront the disappointment before shifting focus to the second Bledisloe Cup Test at Sydney’s Accor Stadium this weekend.

“We felt like all the guns were loaded and we had the ammunition to fire shots to win the game. We didn’t. That’s the music I was talking about,” he said. “You can be internally so driven to win, when you don’t, that’s the disappointment you have to face.”

Despite the scale of the defeat, Wright was clear that dwelling on it would be counterproductive. “Disappointing, but we can’t carry that disappointment into the rest of this week because it’s not going to help us on Saturday,” he said. With the Bledisloe Cup already secured by New Zealand, the Wallabies will be playing for pride and momentum when the two sides meet again in Sydney.