All Blacks go one up on Wallabies

9:30pm

First-five-eighth Andrew Mehrtens' boot carried the All Blacks to a 12-6 victory over Australia in the first round of their Bledisloe Cup clash at Jade Stadium in Christchurch on Saturday night.

Mehrtens wasn't the only one making astute use of the boot on a cold, wet night as team-mate Aaron Mauger also made some clever tactical kicks to keep the Wallabies on the back foot.

Both teams were evenly matched in difficult conditions and some spectators may have been forgiven for thinking they were watching a game from the archives as the two teams struggled to a tryless finish for the first time in approximately eleven years.

Mehrtens won the kicking duel with Wallaby Matthew Burke by 4 penalties to 2, while superb defence from both teams made for a game of attrition up front.

Coach John Mitchell said after the game that the stop start nature of the match meant he didn't have to make any substitutions because the team placed a high emphasis on fitness.

Despite the sin binning of winger Mark Robinson for the last ten minutes the All Blacks more than held their own in defence and on attack.