New Zealand maintained their grip on the Bledisloe Cup with a 31-28 victory over Australia, but only after withstanding a spirited fightback from the Wallabies.

The All Blacks scored four first-half tries at the Accor Stadium, as they bounced back from their narrow defeat by South Africa last time out.

New Zealand came flying out of the blocks and were 21-0 to the good inside the opening 16 minutes, with Will Jordan, Rieko Ioane and Caleb Clarke all crossing.

Fraser McReight got Australia on the scoreboard, while Matt Faessler also went over, but Ardie Savea's converted try kept New Zealand in control at half-time at 28-14.

Damian McKenzie kicked the visitors further in front early in the second half, but Scott Robertson's side were made to cling on towards the end.

With Clarke and Anton Lienert-Brown sin-binned inside the final quarter of an hour, the Wallabies launched a late rally.

Hunter Paisami reduced the deficit, and the hosts closed the gap to a single score when Tom Wright went over in the final minute, but it proved too little too late for Joe Schmidt's side.

Data Debrief: Slipper out on his own as Savea surpasses McCaw

It was an historic day for Slipper, with the veteran prop becoming Australia's most-capped player when he ran on for his 140th Test early in the second half.

Ultimately, it proved a bittersweet day as he was forced off with a head injury just 21 minutes later, but he now stands alone on the Wallabies' all-time list.

However, the match belonged to New Zealand, who retained the Bledisloe Cup as they have done every year since 2003.

Savea created his own piece of history when he scored his 28th international try, surpassing the great Richie McCaw as the most by any All Blacks forward.

Joe Schmidt has said he remains unsure about some of his Australia players following their 40-29 victory over Georgia at Sydney Football Stadium.

Rob Valetini and Fraser McReight scored doubles for the hosts, with Australia surviving a red card picked up by Filipo Daugunu for a knee to the head of Sandro Todua to maintain the Wallabies' new head coaches unbeaten start. 

Schmidt made 10 changes to the side that beat Wales last Saturday in Melbourne, with some taking the opportunity with both hands, while others fell short. 

"Some guys have really put their hands up and other guys probably need a bit of work," Schmidt said.

"Some guys are delivering really consistent training performances and pushing for match day selection. Whether you're playing Georgia or next time we come out in Brisbane, it will be South Africa.

"We have a number of players who we're not sure about, who is maybe the best option in a particular position or who's the best combination."

Australia led 26-10 at the break, and although Georgia rallied in the second half, the home side triumphed in only the third meeting between the pair. 

Hunter Paisami and Isaac Kailea went over the line early on, but Dauganu's sending off allowed Georgia a way back into the contest. 

The visitors closed to within two points of Australia with two scintillating tries early in the second half through Davit Niniashvili and Akaki Tabutsadze.

However, their challenge faded as Niniashvili was sin-binned for a deliberate knockdown, as McReight and Valetini secured three successive wins for the first time since late 2021.

“It is only three weeks that we’ve been together and we made 10 changes and we knew there was an element of risk in that,” Schmidt said.

“But I like the way we built our way into the game, bar the early three points.

“We put a few nice tries together and built a lead, but it was really disappointing that they got back into the game and we were scrambling just a little bit.”

The Wallabies next face world champions South Africa in their Rugby Championship opener in Brisbane on August 10.