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• Cheika: Australia must take Bledisloe Cup blow on the chin

  Australia coach Michael Cheika told his players to "suck it up" and move on to the next challenge after being thrashed 36-0 by New Zealand in Auckland.

  With the Rugby World Cup getting under way in five weeks' time, there is little time for the Wallabies to stew and consider what might have been, after again failing to get their hands on the Bledisloe Cup.

  They have not won at Eden Park since 1986 or claimed the Bledisloe Cup since 2002, and, aside from a spell early in the game when they were camped by the New Zealand line, Australia never looked like troubling the All Blacks.

  Cheika, who admitted to being "terribly disappointed", nevertheless urged his team to "be resilient" following the heavy loss.

  And he said they must not allow their plans for the more important quest in Japan to be knocked off track.

  "You're going to be sad and disappointed but suck it up and get ready for the next one," said Cheika. "And build into the World Cup just how we've always planned to."

  New Zealand made a raft of changes after their 47-26 to Australia a week earlier in Perth, and those paid off handsomely as they raided the Wallabies for five tries.

  The teams could yet meet again at the World Cup, and Cheika will not lose sight of the fact Australia were better than their trans-Tasman rivals on home soil.

  He added: "We've improved a lot since 2018 - on the field and off the field - and we have to take it on the chin.

  "If you'd asked me how I was feeling yesterday or before the game, I was feeling really good about the improvements we'd made.

  "And as terribly disappointed as I am about the game, I'm not going to throw them away, I'm going to put them into context."

  Cheika is due to name his 31-man squad for the World Cup on Friday and said he would not rush to judge the team on the Eden Park performance.

  He said, according to the Wallabies' website: "We just wanted all the games to play out and then we'll sit down early in the week and get it done."

• Hansen dismisses fears over Mo'unga World Cup prospects after shoulder blow

  New Zealand are confident an injury scare for fly-half Richie Mo'unga will prove nothing to worry about.

  With the Rugby World Cup just five weeks away, it appeared concerning when Mo'unga had to be replaced midway through the second half against Australia on Saturday.

  The 25-year-old, who scored New Zealand's opening try in their 36-0 Bledisloe Cup win, went off with a shoulder blow after clashing with Lukhan Salakaia-Loto.

  But head coach Steve Hansen said in a post-match news conference at Eden Park he had no fears about Mo'unga facing a long lay-off.

  "He's got a sore shoulder. He's not that bad, doc says he'll be fine," said Hansen.

  "He got tipped up and fell on his shoulder. We'll know more in the morning, but doc's pretty comfortable with where he's at."

  Hansen, after his 100th match in charge of the All Blacks, said he was pleased with New Zealand's response to their 47-26 defeat seven days prior in Perth as they retained the Bledisloe Cup.

  "We had to respond to a performance last week that we would all say wasn't good enough from our point of view and an exceptional one from Australia," he said in quotes reported by the New Zealand Herald.

  "It's a long time in sport, seven days, and I'm very proud of them. We got towelled up last week and I'm not sure any All Black has enjoyed that experience."

• Karunaratne and Thirimanne put Sri Lanka in sight of victory with record stand

  Sri Lanka put themselves in a strong position to win the first Test against New Zealand as their run chase began with an unbroken century stand.

  Set 268 for victory in Galle, Sri Lanka were handsomely placed on 133-0 when fading light stopped play late on day four.

  Dimuth Karunaratne reached 71 not out and Lahiru Thirimanne was undefeated on 57, in what was already a record first-wicket partnership for Sri Lanka in the fourth innings of a Test.

  New Zealand, who sit second in the ICC Test rankings, stretched their overnight lead of 177 to 267, with BJ Watling adding 14 to his overnight score before being caught behind for 77 by Niroshan Dickwella off Lahiru Kumara.

  William Somerville made an unbeaten 40, with Trent Boult cracking a rapid 26 and last man Ajaz Patel weighing in with 14, the lower-order batting success in the innings of 285 all out suggesting it was a wicket ripe for scoring on Saturday.

  That was how it continued to look as Sri Lanka began chasing down their target, although Tim Southee and Trent Boult gave Karunaratne and Thirimanne cause for early worry.

  Thirimanne was well beaten by a ball from Southee that narrowly cleared off stump, before moments later Karunaratne almost nicked a delicious delivery from Boult.

  It was often Karunaratne who was riding his luck, and it was not until the 22nd over that Sri Lanka, ranked sixth among Test nations, registered a boundary.

  Later, Watling could not cling to a difficult chance as Karunaratne got a bottom edge off Somerville, the ball going through the wicketkeeper to bring up the two runs that took him to a half-century.

  Tom Latham at short leg missed out on a sharp chance as Karunaratne used up another life, and the same batsman was fortunate not to be stumped by Watling in the next over.

  Somerville, a 35-year-old off-spinner playing just his second Test match, took three first-innings wickets and was unlucky to gain no further reward as Sri Lanka edged towards their target in the gathering gloom.