The All Blacks snapped a two-game losing streak with a nail-biting 31-28 win over the Wallabies on Saturday, holding off a second-half charge to retain the Bledisloe Cup.
Both sides scored four tries on a warm Sydney afternoon as the All Blacks rebounded from consecutive Rugby Championship defeats against world champions South Africa.
New Zealand took a commanding 28-14 lead into the break and, despite Australia storming back into contention, held on to retain a trophy they have owned since 2003, dominating possession, set plays and the breakdown.
'It's a bit of a relief, to be honest,' said New Zealand captain Scott Barrett.
'In the last 15 (minutes), we found ourselves in a bit of a hole, but we hung on with a bit of scrambled defence and managed to hang on.
