The Wallabies celebrate winning The Rugby Championship of 2015

The Wallabies have made a statement ahead of the Rugby World Cup with a 27 / 19 victory over the All Blacks to win the 2015 Rugby Championship.

The All Blacks have won every Rugby Championship since the expansion to 4 teams in 2012, but were outscored by 3 tries to 2 by their hosts in a thrilling contest at ANZ Stadium in Sydney.

The result also means New Zealand must win next week’s clash at Eden Park if they are to retain the Bledisloe Cup, which they have held since 2003.

This is Australia’s 1st title since claiming the Tri-Nations in 2011.

All Black flyhalf Dan Carter had a poor night with the boot but nevertheless made history by becoming the 1st man to reach 1 500 Test points.

But it was the Wallabies’ replacement halfbacks who stole the show, making a telling contribution in the last quarter, with Nic White scoring the winning try.

New Zealand led 6 / 3 at the interval thanks to 2 penalties from Carter as opposed to 1 from Matt Giteau. As that scoreline suggests, there was nothing to choose between the sides in a high-paced opening 40 minutes.

Tries after the break by Wallaby prop Sekope Kepu and wing Adam Ashley-Cooper were answered by a double by All Black debutant Nehe Milner-Skudder before Nic White ghosted over to secure the trophy for Australia.

David Pocock made a great start with a couple of early steals, but Kepu was shown a Yellow Card inside the opening 10 minutes, after making a tackle without retreating 10m when the All Blacks were threating to score from a quickly-taken penalty.

Carter slotted the easy 3 points and almost bagged the 1st try soon thereafter but was beaten by inches in a foot race with Matt Giteau, after the All Blacks pivot had hacked a loose ball ahead.

The hosts were able to ride out the sin-bin period without conceding further points as the 1st quarter ended with New Zealand 3 / 0 up.

The Wallaby scrum was strong and earned a penalty which allowed Matt Giteau to level the scores, but a ruck penalty against the home side meant that Dan Carter could reply almost immediately with a long-range effort, to restore the gap.

Matt Giteau hit the upright with his next shot at goal and Dean Mumm fumbled a terrible pass from Nick Phipps when a try was on the cards after a good break by Israel Folau.

Consecutive lineout steals by the All Blacks denied the hosts further opportunities to score and a last-gasp tackle by Michael Hooper kept Julian Savea out of the corner, meaning the visitors went into the break with a narrow lead.

Kiwi scrumhalf Aaron Smith was sent to the sin bin soon after the restart for a high-tackle on Adam Ashley-Cooper. The Wallabies immediately cashed in as Kepu showed a neat step before shrugging off 2 tacklers to race over for a try.

Matt Giteau added the conversion to put the Wallabies 10 / 6 ahead but Dan Carter landed his 3rd penalty – against Pocock at a ruck – to cut the deficit to a single point on 50 minutes.

A bad night for Nick Phipps got worse when he too saw Yellow for pulling back Conrad Smith, who had taken a quick penalty.

The All Blacks struck right away as a half-break from Dan Carter allowed Ben Smith to escape before the fullback found Nehe Milner-Skudder up in support for the young winger’s 1st Test try.

The Wallabies moved back in front when Adam Ashley-Cooper collected Matt Toomua’s chip ahead and barged through Ben Smith to finish wonderfully in the corner, with Matt Giteau adding the conversion.

A 1st-phase attack from New Zealand got the ball quickly to Milner-Skudder, who did brilliantly to get the it down for a try depsite the attention of 3 tacklers.

Dan Carter missed the conversion, meaning that when Nic White hit the target from 48m out, following an offside penalty, Australia led 20 / 19.

Nic White was the hero of the night as, in the dying minutes, he sold the Kiwi defence a dummy before slipping past Codie Taylor for the winning try. His own conversion sealed a deserved win for the Wallabies.