The All Blacks ended a two-match losing streak with a tense 31-28 victory over the Wallabies on Saturday, holding off a second-half surge to retain the Bledisloe Cup.

Both teams crossed for four tries on a warm afternoon in Sydney as the All Blacks bounced back from consecutive Rugby Championship defeats against reigning world champions South Africa.

New Zealand led 28-14 at the interval, and although Australia fought back into contention, the visitors held on to retain a trophy they have held since 2003, dominating possession, set-pieces, 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 difficult position, but we scrambled in defence and managed to hold on.

"That’s the Australian spirit; they certainly never give up."

New Zealand had won their last seven Tests against Australia, adding more pressure on Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt, whose team were soundly beaten 67-27 in Argentina during the Rugby Championship a fortnight ago.

Despite the comeback, it was a bittersweet occasion for prop James Slipper, who became the most-capped Wallaby with his 140th appearance, surpassing George Gregan.

The win lifted New Zealand above Los Pumas into second place on the Rugby Championship table, with one game remaining against Australia, who sit bottom, in Wellington next week.

Argentina will host the table-topping Springboks later on Saturday.

"We’re obviously gutted not to get the win," said Australia captain Harry Wilson.

"Giving the All Blacks a 21-0 head start was always going to make it hard for us, but I’m really proud of how we fought back.

"We just didn’t want to give up and we played for each other."

In a late blow, New Zealand veteran Beauden Barrett was ruled out with illness an hour before kick-off, leading to Will Jordan moving to full-back and Sevu Reece coming onto the wing.

Australia also made changes, with Nic White and Noah Lolesio starting as the half-backs, while centre Hunter Paisami and full-back Tom Wright returned from injury.

However, it made little difference as the hosts were exposed just two minutes in when Jordan sliced through the defence to score under the posts, with Damian McKenzie adding the conversion.

The All Blacks kept up the pressure, extending their lead to 14-0 after nine minutes as centre Rieko Ioane finished off a break by Caleb Clarke to score their second try.

Australia were struggling for ideas, and Clarke powered over in the corner for the visitors' third try.

New Zealand briefly switched off, allowing Nic White to dart through a gap and offload to Fraser McReight, who crossed the line to give the 68,061-strong crowd at Sydney Olympic Stadium something to cheer about.

But it was only a short reprieve as Ardie Savea sprinted over for another try in the 24th minute after a sloppy Australian pass was intercepted by Reece.

With McKenzie converting for the fourth time, New Zealand moved into a dominant 28-7 lead.

The Wallabies, however, continued to battle and were rewarded when hooker Matt Faessler surged over just before the half-time whistle to provide a glimmer of hope.

An early second-half penalty extended New Zealand’s advantage, but Australia improved significantly after the break.

New Zealand had a try ruled out for a forward pass, and Australia capitalised with a try of their own through Paisami, following a break by Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, to narrow the deficit to 10 points with 15 minutes remaining.

This sparked the home side into life, and they scored again through Tom Wright with just a minute left on the clock, setting up a tense finale. However, the All Blacks held firm to secure the win.