The Wallabies were better for the most part and led by six at the death, but a last minute All Blacks blitz saw centre Malakai Fekitoa cross to narrow the deficit to one before replacement Colin Slade converted for the miraculous come from behind win.
After two weeks of turmoil and with their backs firmly against the wall, the under siege Wallabies managed to ignore the drama and intrigue surrounding the Kurtley Beale-Di Patston scandal and the uncertain future of coach Ewen McKenzie to go agonisingly close to a heroic victory.
Spearheaded by the incisive running and uncompromising defence of Tevita Kuridrani and breakdown work of Scott Fardy, the Wallabies led from start to finish with tries to Nick Phipps, Bernard Foley and Adam Ashley-Cooper while Foley kicked 10 points from the tee.
A try was just reward for the affable Ashley-Cooper whose milestone was often overlooked in the tumultuous build-up.
It was a high-paced and entertaining encounter, much like the corresponding match in Dunedin last year, but featured its fair share of handling errors and missed tackles. The All Blacks especially were off the mark with plenty of handling errors, only 37% possession and a whopping 19 missed tackles in the first half alone.
Christian Leali’ifano ran a great line to set up the Wallabies’ opening try, scored by halfback Nick Phipps from the base of a ruck on the tryline in the 12th minute.
The good work from the fast start was swiftly undone by a brilliant All Blacks restart, claimed by Conrad Smith and shifted to Cory Jane for a clinical finish in the right corner.
Beauden Barrett’s sideline conversion levelled the scores as the All Blacks earned the ire of referee Craig Joubert with a succession of penalties.
Bernard Foley slotted three points before All Blacks hooker Dane Coles dummied to Julian Savea, stepped the defence and put the visitors ahead for the first time in the match. Special stuff from the Hurricanes rake.
The Wallabies got the edge just before the break with Foley sniping over in the left corner to go up 15-12.
The Wallabies started the second like they started the first half, full of running and with plenty of off-loads to allow Ashley-Cooper to score in his milestone match.
A penalty apiece left the score at 25-15 when replacement All Blacks forward Patrick Tuipulotu was sent to the bin for taking out Rob Simmons in the air.
If the Wallabies dominated the first hour, it was All Blacks who stepped up in the closing quarter.
Halfback Aaron Smith took a quick tap and scored from close range to reduce the gap to three as the visitors upped the tempo looking for the winning score.
A long-range Nick White penalty pushed the gap back to six, but the All Blacks’ belief showed through at the death with quick phase play for Fekitoa to score on the right.
Slade, after missing touch from a penalty minute earlier, calmly slotted the conversion to help New Zealand avoid a second straight defeat.
Wallabies (Phipps, Foley, Ashley-Cooper tries; Foley 2 pen, con; White pen) df All Blacks (Jane, Coles, Smith tries; Barrett 2 con, pen)