Clarke's brace helps All Blacks to win over Wallabies
Wing Caleb Clarke scored two tries as New Zealand overcame a slow start to overwhelm Australia 33-13 in their final match of the Rugby Championship on Saturday.
The All Blacks racked up five tries to one in a fast-moving contest in Wellington to stretch their winning streak against the Wallabies to nine straight matches and leave them with four wins from six at the end of the Rugby Championship.
Having trailed for much of the first half, the home side took a 19-13 lead on the stroke of half-time through an audacious try by Clarke before dominating the remainder of the contest.
Joe Schmidt's Wallabies crashed to their fifth Rugby Championship defeat of a troubled campaign and remain without a win over the All Blacks on New Zealand soil since 2001.
New Zealand captain Scott Barrett was pleased his team overcame their hoodoo in the country's capital city, having failed to win any of their previous five Tests in Wellington.
"Really pleased to have reversed the curse. We didn't start too well, but I'm really pleased with how we finished," lock forward Barrett said.
"We talked about owning our effort and it showed there on our line, it was pleasing to not let them in. And I'm pleased to finish on a high in our final home game."
It was an improved finish to the match for Scott Robertson's New Zealand, who have faltered badly in the closing stages of several recent Tests, including last week's 31-28 defeat of the Wallabies that saw them retain the Bledisloe Cup.
As with the Sydney contest, both teams adopted a ball-in-hand approach, with the in-form Clarke a chief beneficiary as he took his tally to seven tries in five Tests this year.
It was the last home Test for two long-serving New Zealand players, with flanker Sam Cane and