New Zealand finishes strong to beat Australia 33-13 in 2nd Bledisloe

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand overcame a slow start and produced a more clinical finish than in recent matches to beat Australia 33-13 on Saturday and sweep the two-test Bledisloe Cup series.

When winger Caleb Clarke scored his second and the All Blacks' fifth try in the 64th minute it was the first time in six tests New Zealand has scored points in the last quarter.

Australia had scored first and kept the game close until just before halftime when New Zealand took a 19-13 lead. The second half belonged to the All Blacks, who scored two tries and 14 unanswered points to win in Wellington for the first time in six years.

“We didn't start too well but I'm really pleased with how we finished,” All Blacks captain Scott Barrett said. “There was some real grit in defense there in the way we held out the Aussies.”

The Wallabies — without a win over the All Blacks in New Zealand in 23 years — started so well they seemed a team transformed in only seven days. A slow start cost them the first test between the teams in Sydney last weekend and the chance to regain the Bledisloe Cup after 21 years.

Australia trailed 28-7 in the first half of that match but rallied strongly before going down 31-28.

On Saturday, the Wallabies posted the first try through backrower Fraser McReight in the eighth minute.

They led 10-5, then 13-12 with a conversion and penalties to Noah Lolesio before New Zealand came back to claim a 19-13 halftime lead. The All Blacks were confined to their own half for long periods in the first half but broke out to score tries through each member of their back three.

Right winger Sevu Reece scored in the 16th minute, fullback Will Jordan in the 22nd and left winger Caleb Clarke in the 41st after the All Blacks, trailing 13-12, passed up a kickable penalty.

The Wallabies trailed at halftime despite having shaded New Zealand on territory and possession and having forced the All Blacks to make more than 90 tackles.

The Wallabies out-muscled the All Blacks in the first spell, most obviously in the lead-up to McReight's try. They were determined to run every piece of possession at New Zealand, even launching attacks from inside their own 22.

The All Blacks lacked discipline at times and conceded the first six penalties of the match. At the same time, the Wallabies' ball security was poor at the end of the first half and start of the second and they gave too much ball back to the All Blacks, who were typically dangerous off turnovers.

A turnover won by Ardie Savea set up Reece's try. Jordan was a constant danger with turnover possession which Australia struggled to contain.

A break by Jordan put New Zealand in an attacking position in the 54th minute and prop Tamaiti Williams scored to make the All Blacks' lead 26-13.

Without possession, Australia began to concede penalties to hand the All Blacks better field position.

“That's not the result we wanted,” Wallabies captain Harry Wilson said. "I thought our first 40 was really good. We showed up, we started fast but we struggled with possession in the second half.”

Veteran scrumhalf T.J. Perenara left the field in the 62nd after playing his last test for New Zealand and flanker Sam Kane was replaced in the 68th after becoming the 13th New Zealander to play 100 tests.

After scoring his second try and breaking the All Blacks' final-quarter drought, Clarke ended the game in the sin-bin for picking up the ball from an offside position.

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New Zealand's Caleb Clarke scores a try during their Rugby Championship match between the All Blacks and the Wallabies in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024.(Kerry Marshall/Photosport via AP)

New Zealand's Caleb Clarke scores a try as he is tackled by Australia's Hunter Paisami during their Rugby Championship match between the All Blacks and the Wallabies in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024.(Andrew Cornaga/Photosport via AP)

The Bledisloe Cup on display ahead of the Rugby Championship match between the All Blacks and the Wallabies, in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024.(Andrew Cornaga/Photosport via AP)

New Zealand's Wallace Sititi makes a runduring their Rugby Championship match between the All Blacks and the Wallabies in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024.(Andrew Cornaga/Photosport via AP)

New Zealand's Caleb Clarke runs past Australia's Andrew Kellaway during their Rugby Championship match between the All Blacks and the Wallabies in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024.(Andrew Cornaga/Photosport via AP)

Australia's Len Ikitau is tackled by New Zealand's Beauden Barrett, right, during their Rugby Championship match between the All Blacks and the Wallabies in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024.(Andrew Cornaga/Photosport via AP)

New Zealand's Will Jordan scores a try during their Rugby Championship match between the All Blacks and the Wallabies in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024.(Andrew Cornaga/Photosport via AP)

New Zealand's Tupou Vaa'i runs at the defence during their Rugby Championship match between the All Blacks and the Wallabies in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024.(Andrew Cornaga/Photosport via AP)

Australia's Len Ikitau is tackled by New Zealand's Beauden Barrett, right, during their Rugby Championship match between the All Blacks and the Wallabies in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024.(Andrew Cornaga/Photosport via AP)

Australia's Fraser McReight, left, passes the ball as New Zealand's Tupou Vaa'i makes a tackle during their Rugby Championship match between the All Blacks and the Wallabies in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024.(Andrew Cornaga/Photosport via AP)

Australia's Tom Wright takes the ball during their Rugby Championship match between the All Blacks and the Wallabies in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024.(Andrew Cornaga/Photosport via AP)

Australia's Taniela Tupou reacts as he is attended to by a trainer during their Rugby Championship match between the All Blacks and the Wallabies in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024.(Andrew Cornaga/Photosport via AP)

New Zealand's Wallace Sititi makes a run during their Rugby Championship match between the All Blacks and the Wallabies in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024.(Andrew Cornaga/Photosport via AP)

New Zealand's Sevu Reece runs past Australia's Len Ikitau to score a try during their Rugby Championship match between the All Blacks and the Wallabies in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024.(Andrew Cornaga/Photosport via AP)

Australia's Nick Frost, right, and New Zealand's Caleb Clarke collide as they compete for the ball during their Rugby Championship match between the All Blacks and the Wallabies in Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024.(Andrew Cornaga/Photosport via AP)

Iran eased some restrictions on its people and for the first time in days allowed them to make phone calls abroad via their mobile phones on Tuesday. It did not ease restrictions on the internet or allow texting services to be restored as the toll from days of bloody protests against the state rose to at least 646 people killed.

Although Iranians were able to call abroad, people outside the country could not call them, several people in the capital told The Associated Press.

The witnesses, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, said SMS text messaging still was down and internet users inside Iran could not access anything abroad, although there were local connections to government-approved websites.

It was unclear if restrictions would ease further after authorities cut off all communications inside the country and to the outside world late Thursday.

Here is the latest.

Iranian security forces arrested what a state television report described as terrorist groups linked to Israel in the southeastern city of Zahedan.

The report, without providing additional details, said the group entered through Iran’s eastern borders and carried U.S.-made guns and explosives that the group had planned to use in assassinations and acts of sabotage.

The Israel military did not immediately comment on the allegations.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai expressed her support for the growing protest movement roiling Iran, hailing people who have “long warned about this repression, at great personal risk.”

“The protests in Iran cannot be separated from the long-standing, state-imposed restrictions on girls’ and women’s autonomy, in all aspects of public life including education. Iranian girls, like girls everywhere, demand a life with dignity,” Yousafzai wrote on X.

“(Iran’s) future must be driven by the Iranian people, and include the leadership of Iranian women and girls — not external forces or oppressive regimes,” she added.

Yousafzai was awarded the peace prize in 2014 at the age of 17 for her fight for girls’ education in her home country, Pakistan. She is the youngest Nobel laureate.

The French Foreign Ministry said it has “reconfigured” its embassy in Tehran after reports that the facility's nonessential staff left Iran earlier this week.

The embassy's nonessential staff left the country Sunday and Monday, French news agency Agence France-Presse reported.

The ambassador remained on site and the embassy continued to function, the ministry said late Monday night.

Angela Charlton contributed from Paris.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he believes the Iranian government is in its “final days and weeks,” as he renewed a call for Iranian authorities to end violence against demonstrators immediately.

“If a regime can only keep itself in power by force, then it’s effectively at the end,” Merz said Tuesday during a visit to Bengaluru, India. “I believe we are now seeing the final days and weeks of this regime. In any case, it has no legitimacy through elections in the population. The population is now rising up against this regime.”

Merz said he hoped there is “a possibility to end this conflict peacefully," adding that Germany is in close contact with the U.S. and European governments.

The Israeli military said it continues to be “on alert for surprise scenarios” due to the ongoing protests in Iran, but has not made any changes to guidelines for civilians, as it does prior to a concrete threat.

“The protests in Iran are an internal matter,” Israeli military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin wrote on X.

Israel attacked Iran’s nuclear program over the summer, resulting in a 12-day war that killed nearly 1,200 Iranians and almost 30 Israelis. Over the past week, Iran has threatened to attack Israel if Israel or the U.S. attacks.

Mobile phones in Iran were able to call abroad Tuesday after a crackdown on nationwide protests in which the internet and international calls were cut. Several people in Tehran were able to call The Associated Press.

The AP bureau in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, was unable to call those numbers back.

Witnesses said the internet remained cut off from the outside world. Iran cut off the internet and calls on Thursday as protests intensified.

Activists said the death toll from ongoing protests have at least 646 people.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the latest death toll early Tuesday. The agency relies on supporters in Iran cross-checking information.

The agency said 512 of the dead were protesters and 134 were security force members.

More than 10,700 people have been detained over the two weeks of protests, the agency said.

This frame grab from videos taken between Jan. 9 and Jan. 11, 2026, and circulating on social media purportedly shows images from a morgue with dozens of bodies and mourners after crackdownon the outskirts of Iran's capital, in Kahrizak, Tehran Province. (UGC via AP)

This frame grab from videos taken between Jan. 9 and Jan. 11, 2026, and circulating on social media purportedly shows images from a morgue with dozens of bodies and mourners after crackdown on the outskirts of Iran's capital, in Kahrizak, Tehran Province. (UGC via AP)

This frame grab from videos taken between Jan. 9 and Jan. 11, 2026, and circulating on social media purportedly shows images from a morgue with dozens of bodies and mourners after crackdown on the outskirts of Iran's capital, in Kahrizak, Tehran Province. (UGC via AP)

Protesters hold up placards and flags as they demonstrate outside the Iranian Embassy in London, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Shiite Muslims hold placards and chant slogans during a protest against the U.S. and show solidarity with Iran in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)

Activists carrying a photograph of Reza Pahlavi take part in a rally supporting protesters in Iran at Lafayette Park, across from the White House, in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Protesters burn the Iranian national flag during a rally in support of the nationwide mass demonstrations in Iran against the government in Paris, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

People attend a rally in Frankfurt, Germany, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (Boris Roessler/dpa via AP)

A picture of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is set alight by protesters outside the Iranian Embassy in London, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)