Les Kiss's unbeaten Wallabies fell at Eden Park as the All Blacks attacked from the air and the 25-year Bledisloe wait dragged on.
The Springboks cast a long shadow over this one. Australia arrived in Auckland fresh from stomping the world champions from South Africa a fortnight earlier, while the All Blacks were nursing the wounds of three defeats to that same Springboks side. On paper, the Bledisloe Cup looked ready to change hands for the first time in 25 years.
Eden Park had other ideas. Les Kiss's Wallabies came in on a six-game unbeaten run, and they let their advantage slip. The All Blacks, staring down a fourth straight loss, found their answer in the air and kept launching high balls until Australia cracked.
It was Kiss's first defeat as Wallabies coach, and it showed. He stood alone in the middle of the pitch with a thousand-yard stare, in the same spot where the last 10 Australian coaches have stood after failing to crack New Zealand rugby's fortress.
For Australia, the lesson is a familiar one: build a lead and you have to protect it. Kiss now has to fix the old habits that resurfaced when it mattered most, because the Bledisloe drought rolls on and the All Blacks have shown they are far from finished.
