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SYDNEY, Australia -- New Zealand opened the Rugby Championship with a commanding 47-29 victory over Australia on Saturday, extending its dominance over its trans-Tasman rival and spoiling Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzies first game in charge. Wholesale Hockey Jerseys . Despite missing star flyhalf Dan Carter through injury, the All Blacks always looked in control against a mistake-prone Australia. Ben Smith scored a hat trick of tries, and Aaron Cruden, Richie McCaw and Conrad Smith also crossed in a bonus-point win for the world champions at Sydneys Olympic stadium. Will Genia and James OConnor scored tries for the hosts. The All Blacks will retain the Bledisloe Cup -- a trophy contested annually between the Australasian rivals -- for the 11th straight year with a victory next week in Wellington. "I am obviously very happy with the performance," All Blacks coach Steve Hansen said. "Its not every day that you can come here and get 40 odd points. Its important to be a winning team, but youve got to keep humble and your feet on the floor because youve got to win again next week. "The Bledisloe Cup, you have to win twice, so we havent done anything yet. Weve only done a small part of the job, but until we win two, we dont win it." On this performance, McKenzie will need a vast improvement from his players if they are to have any chance of competing in the four-team Rugby Championship, which also features South Africa and Argentina. "Every time you lose a game its disappointing," McKenzie said. "We were level pegging there for some time in the game, but you have to respect possession. "We didnt control the ball and they were able to play and do some of the things theyre good at, and you pay a price for that." Australia captain James Horwill said his team paid a heavy price for its mistakes. "Theyre very good. They show it by the way they play, the way they capitalize on turnovers, and they understand the way they want to play because they have done it for a long time together," he said. "They are No. 1 in the world for a reason." As was the case in the lost series to the British and Irish Lions in June and July, the Wallabies made its cause difficult with numerous individual errors, giving the visitors frequent scoring opportunities. Stephen Moores knock-on in the opening minutes gave the All Blacks an early opportunity to pressure the Wallabies goal-line defence. It was a chance they eagerly grasped, with Aaron Cruden getting on the outside of James OConnor and flicking a one-handed pass for Ben Smith to cross unchallenged for a converted try after four minutes. The Wallabies were given a penalty chance when Kieran Read barged into Rob Simmons off a high midfield kick. Center Christian Lealiifano made no mistake to narrow the deficit to 7-3. Australia closed to within a point on 12 minutes through Lealiifano after referee Craig Joubert penalized New Zealand captain Richie McCaw for playing the ball while off his feet at the ruck. Both teams traded penalties before a poor attempted clearance by Lealiifano was charged down by Cruden, with the flyhalf able to score with ease for a 17-12 lead. The home teams task was made harder when Jesse Moggs clearance kick failed to find touch in the 33rd minute. After several phases close to the Wallabies line, Aaron Smith fired a wide pass that eventually allowed the returning McCaw to dive over in the corner to make it 22-12. "For Richie to come back after having the break and everyone doubted him. To get through the 70 minutes like he did just shows the character of the bloke once again, so hopefully there wont be any more doubters," Hansen said. The Wallabies received a lifeline after the All Blacks fumbled the ball on its line-out. It was swooped on by Michael Hooper, who passed the ball for Will Genia to sprint 60 yards and beat Cruden, Ben Smith and Israel Daggs attempted tackles to score under the posts. Lealiifano added the extras to narrow the score to 22-19. In keeping with the see-saw nature of the first half, the Wallabies were caught offside in the final minute of the half, giving Cruden a simple penalty shot for the visitors to lead 25-19 at halftime. The Wallabies started the second half brightly and Lealiifano again drew the Wallabies within three points with another penalty. In the 51st minute, the Wallabies conspired to allow the All Blacks score its fourth try, and a bonus point, when Mogg dropped off Conrad Smith, allowing the centre to dash over under the posts for a 32-22 lead. The hosts misery was compounded when the All Blacks won possession on Australias scrum feed in the 57th minute and quickly played the ball wide. Ben Smith found space to dive over in the corner to end the match as a contest. Quade Cooper was brought on from the bench in the 61st minute, his first international appearance since September 2012. The Queensland Reds playmaker was greeted by a chorus of boos from the large All Black supporter contingent among the crowd of 68,765 people. Cruden continued to impress, slotting a penalty in the 66th to bring up 40 points for the All Blacks. "People have questioned Aaron Cruden at times at this level, and I think he showed tonight that hes a true international player of world-class ability and he led the team very well," Hansen said. Ben Smith scored his deserved hat trick in the 71st, latching on to a spilt ball at a ruck to dash to the line. Australia scored a late consolation try when OConnor found space out wide in New Zealands defensive line. ------ Scores: New Zealand 47 (Ben Smith 3, Aaron Cruden, Richie McCaw, Conrad Smith tries; Cruden 3 conversions, 3 penalties, Beauden Barrett conversion) def. Australia 29 (Will Genia, James OConnor tries; Christian Lealiifano 2 conversion, 5 penalties). Halftime: 25-19. Cheap NHL Jerseys Online . A-Rod is also disqualified from any post-season play. So at the tender age of 38, he will miss all of next season. As a result of missing the coming season, hes also out $25 million (which coincidentally is my hourly rate). NHL Jerseys From China . A spokeswoman for the NLRB says its "a very incremental move" and does not necessarily indicate the board is close to a finding in the case. NFL owners filed an unfair labour charge against the players union in February, arguing that the union was not negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement in good faith.PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Bylsma wanted to send a message to his team, putting Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin exclusively on the same line. Consider it received. Attacking on offence early and often, the Penguins topped the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 on Saturday night as Jussi Jokinen scored the go-ahead goal in the third period to help give Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead in the Eastern Conference playoff series. Pittsburgh peppered Sergei Bobrovsky with 50 shots on goal, keeping the Blue Jackets goalie busy all night. "We competed hard," Crosby said. "We played desperate and really aggressive. Thats the game we have to play. Its not always going to result in 50 shots, but its our style of play." Chris Kunitz had a power-play goal and Kris Letang scored into an empty net for Pittsburgh, which has the upstart Blue Jackets on the verge of elimination with an opportunity to close out the series Monday during Game 6 in Columbus. "Their coach challenged them and they responded," Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said. "Now, we have to do the same thing on Monday." It hasnt been easy for the Penguins, a team considered by many a Stanley Cup contender. Columbus, which began the series searching for its first playoff win in franchise history, twice rallied to stun the heavily favoured Penguins and outshot Pittsburgh three of the previous four games this series. Boone Jenner scored the lone goal for Columbus, which played its first Game 5 in franchise history. "I dont think anybody in this room would say theyre uncomfortable going into the next game," Blue Jackets forward Ryan Johansen said. "Like weve been saying, all the guys, we believe we can get this done." Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury recovered from a game-changing gaffe in Game 4 for the victory on Saturday, making 23 saves. Fleury is 4-1 in his last five games after a playoff overtime loss. "He was solid," Crosby said. "He showed his experience tonight." Bobrovsky stopped 48 shots for the Blue Jackets. "They were going to the net hard and obviously it was something they talked about, to make it hard on Bobrovsky," Richards said. "Its how they wanted to play the game." Crosby and Malkin, despite playing on the same line and combining for eight shots, still havent scored through five playoff games, but the message was sent. "I think we went into the game with a good idea that we were going to see that," Bylsma said. "With the matchup, we were able to give those guys a good opportunity to play together and be a force." Crosby, who led the league in scoriing with 104 points, hasnt scored in his last 10 playoff games overall, while Malkin has gone nine without a goal. Adidas NHL Jerseys Outlet. Richards hopes to extend the goal-less drought another game. "I have the last change, so its something I can possibly control a little bit better," Richards said. "But it makes for something different when you see (Crosby) and (Malkin) on the same line." The teams were tied at 1 entering the third, but Jokinen touched a backhand rebound past Bobrovsky along the far post 6:16 into the period. Letang scored an empty-netter with 1:01 to play to seal it. A 3-1 lead appeared to be a kiss of death for the team leading in the first four games of the series. Not on Saturday. Both sides endured wild momentum swings through the first four games, all decided by a 4-3 margin where the winning team rallied from a 3-1 deficit every time for the first time in league history. The Penguins twice had an opportunity to take a two-game lead in the series, while Columbus put Pittsburgh in a two-goal hole two times, only to come up short. The Penguins were seconds away from taking a 3-1 lead during the best-of-seven series in Game 5 when Fleury misplayed a puck behind the net, leading to Brandon Dubinskys tying goal that forced overtime and Nick Folignos innocent-looking wrist shot from the blue line that evaded Fleury and evened the series. Fleury, who was benched during Pittsburghs run to the conference finals last year, responded Saturday. "I think dealing with the pressure that he has, he was able to turn the page pretty quickly," Crosby said. "Thats what he needs to do, especially in the playoffs." Jenner helped the Blue Jackets score first Saturday with a power-play goal midway through the opening period. Fleury sprawled to cover a rebound at the top of the crease, but the puck came loose and Jenner jammed a shot home along the near post. Kunitz tied it with a second-period power-play goal, corralling a bouncing rebound in front of the net and backhanding it past Bobrovsky. Jokinens goal in the third put the Blue Jackets on the brink. "I expect nothing other than what theyve done all year, to respond," Richards said. NOTES: The NHL announced a 7 p.m. start for Game 6 in Columbus. ... Penguins D Brooks Orpik missed the game with an undisclosed injury. ... Penguins F Brian Gibbons (undisclosed) was out for a third straight game. ... Marcel Goc returned to the lineup for Pittsburgh after missing four games with a foot injury. ... Blue Jackets D Fedor Tyutin (lower body) played after missing two games, while D Ryan Murray (lower body), who missed Game 4, was also back in the lineup. ' ' '
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