Cam Roigard scored two tries on his return from injury as the All Blacks held off a Wallabies fightback to prevail 33-24 in a hard-fought Rugby Championship Test and maintain their grip on the Bledisloe Cup for another year.
Tries from Caleb Clarke, Leroy Carter and scrum-half Roigard gave New Zealand an early 17-point lead, but Australia, who last held the Bledisloe Cup in 2003, were within two points of the lead when flanker Carlo Tizzano crossed 11 minutes from time.
Wallabies winger Harry Potter was shown a yellow card in the 73rd minute, however, and the All Blacks made the most of the extra man to send Roigard in for his second try and extend their unbeaten run at Auckland's Eden Park to 52 tests over 31 years.
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt afterwards lamented what he described as inconsistent refereeing.
Referee Andrea Piardi penalised Australia 15 times – compared to New Zealand's 10 - with many of the offences the Wallabies committed coming at the breakdown.
That crucially included a yellow card shown to winger Harry Potter in the final 10 minutes as the Wallabies, who had cut New Zealand's lead to two points, chased a first win in 39 years at Eden Park.
"It's really hard, because what we've perceived is inconsistencies," Schmidt said.
"That makes it difficult, and then players are asking us questions and we get clarification afterwards."
Piardi also had the whistle when Australia narrowly lost the second test to the British and Irish Lions in July, the result coming down to the Italian's decision not to award a penalty in the lead up to the tourists' winning score.
Schmidt said, however, that it was vital that his players learned to understand what the referee was looking for.
"I do think that we've just got to be better at adapting to how the referee is refereeing," he added.
"If you don't do that, then you pay the price, as we did today.
"We've just got to look back at some of those penalties, really, because they're what really hurt us."
