Christian Cullen and Andrew Mehrtens claimed the records but the Wallabies claimed the Bledisloe Cup through a dramatic injury-time penalty goal by their heroic captain John Eales gave Australia a 24-23 win in another blockbusting trans-Tasman rugby test at Wellington's WestpacTrust Stadium.
Three weeks after the All Blacks won the Greatest Test Ever 39-35 in Sydney, the world champion Wallabies won this one 24-23 after trailing from the 35th minute and appearing to be down and out.
But the never-say-die Aussies stole two lineouts in injury time to stay alive. And when replacement prop Craig Dowd infringed in a ruck, the opportunity to steal a fairytale victory presented itself.
Because the team's goalkicker Stirling Mortlock had been replaced, the responsibility for one of the most important kicks in the history of the game fell to Eales.
From 15 metres in on the 22, on an afternoon when goalkicking was challenging because of the swirling breeze, Eales raised the flags -- to the absolute delight of his colleagues and the dismay of the All Blacks.
Eales hadn't landed a goal for Australia since 1998 but must have known something was coming up because he practiced goalkicking diligently at training on Friday.
So much rested on this one kick. It secured the Bledisloe Cup, which Australia had held since 1998, it brought the Wallabies level with the All Blacks in the Tri-nations championship and, of course, it allowed Rod Macqueen's men to justify their status as world champions.
Eales admitted afterwards he thought the game was lost as time ran out. "We got away with it, albeit through a penalty goal. The All Blacks won in the last minute in Sydney and we managed it here. It was another very special game and we admire the way the All Blacks are playing the game."
In the reverse of the Sydney encounter, it was the Wallabies who established the early advantage this time, leading 12-0 after 16 minutes through well-taken tries by Stirling Mortlock (who is becoming a first-try specialist) and Joe Roff.
But just like Sydney, back came the other team and in a flash the amazing Christian Cullen bagged a brace of tries to put the All Blacks in front.
Those two five-pointers give Cullen eight for the year and put him equal with Jeff Wilson on 39 Test tries, the record for New Zealand.
Before halftime, Mehrtens was also among the records, his first penalty goal taking him past Grant Fox's mark of 645 as the All Blacks' most prolific Test pointscorer.
The All Blacks were ahead 20-18 at halftime and in a desperately tight second half kept their noses in front until those frantic final few moments.
When referee Jonathan Kaplan indicated two minutes to play, the Wallabies were under their goalposts, a million miles away from the zone they needed to be in to salvage the match.
But encouraged by their captain Eales they dug deep. When they stole a lineout on their own 22, flyhalf Stephen Larkham bravely kicked deep.
It was a calculated gamble with only seconds remaining, but he knew Australia's best chance of creating something was inside All Black territory.
Came the final lineout and once again Australia pilfered poor Mark Hammett's throw. It gave them the opportunity to launch one last attack, at which, to the despair of an entire nation, the All Blacks infringed, allowing Eales to slot the winning goal.
The All Blacks will be enormously disappointed but they still have a chance to win the Tri-nations title, currently being locked on 10 points with Australia.
New Zealand has to play South Africa in Johannesburg while Australia will meet them (in the final game of the series) at Durban.
Australia's heroes, besides Eales, were playmaker Larkham, powerful centre Daniel Herbert and ever-enterprising fullback Chris Latham.
New Zealand's best were captain Todd Blackadder, flanker Josh Kronfeld, centre Tana Umaga and the tryscoring freak Christian Cullen.
The team, without a specialist openside flanker on the reserves bench, sorely missed Kronfeld when he limped off with an ankle injury in the 56th minute.
Man of the match: Wallaby captain John Eales, without a shadow of a doubt. Eales showed why he is considered as one of the best footballers on the planet when he stepped up to slot the three-pointer that gave Australia victory and secured them the Bledisloe Cup for the third successive season.
Moment of the match: The moment Eales' kick sailed through the uprights the whole Australian team were off their feet in jubilation. They had done it yet again, with captain Eales the man of the moment.
Villain of the match: The two villains, in this case, were All Black hookers Anton Oliver and Mark Hammett, who both missed their jumpers regularly. Hammett's last two throws were poached by the Wallabies and the final lineout eventually led to the match-winning penalty.
The teams:
Australia: 1 Richard Harry, 2 Michael Foley, 3 Fletcher Dyson, 4 John Eales (c), 5 David Giffin, 6 Toutai Kefu, 7 David Wilson, 8 Jim Williams, 9 George Gregan, 10 Steve Larkham, 11 Stirling Mortlock, 12 Dan Herbert, 13 Jason Little, 14 Joe Roff, 15 Chris Latham
Reserves: Mark Connors, Jeremy Paul, Ben Tune
Unused: Matt Cockbain, Rod Kafer, Glenn Panoho, Sam Cordingley
New Zealand: 1 Carl Hoeft, 2 Anton Oliver, 3 Kees Meeuws, 4 Todd Blackadder (c), 5 Norm Maxwell, 6 Josh Kronfeld, 7 Taine Randell, 8 Ron Cribb, 9 Justin Marshall, 10 Andrew Mehrtens, 11 Jonah Lomu, 12 Pita Alatini, 13 Alama Ieremia, 14 Tana Umaga, 15 Christian Cullen
Reserves: Tony Brown, Craig Dowd, Mark Hammett, Byron Kelleher, Reuben Thorne
Unused: Troy Flavell, Leon MacDonald
Attendance: 36500
Referee: Kaplan j.
Points Scorers:
Australia
Tries: Mortlock S.A. 1, Roff J.W.C. 1
Conv: Mortlock S.A. 1
Pen K.: Mortlock S.A. 3, Eales J.A. 1
New Zealand
Tries: Cullen C.M. 2
Conv: Mehrtens A.P. 2
Pen K.: Mehrtens A.P. 3
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