MELBOURNE -- The Bledisloe Cup has become an all-too-familiar tale, so too the near identical script in which it plays out.
For a 15-minute period in the run to halftime was enough for the All Blacks to sting the Wallabies and set up their crushing 38-7 win on Saturday night, a victory that secured the Bledisloe Cup for a 22nd straight year and threw Australia's Rugby World Cup preparations even further into disrepair.
To make matters worse, stand-in Australia skipper Allan Alaalatoa will be a Rugby World Cup scratching after he was taken from the MCG in a medicab with a serious Achilles injury. Jones had said earlier this year he may need up to seven captains in 2023. After three Tests he's already onto his third, and he has only duck eggs to show for it. The Wallabies just can't seem to take a trick at tighthead prop.
And so New Zealand maintained their unbeaten start to the year in front of 83,944 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday night, striking with the ruthlessness that has long been their forte, but an edge that went missing during the tricky times of 2022.
But they were back to their dominant best in Melbourne, where despite an almost unforgiveable quick-tap error from Mark Telea, they turned a 5-7 deficit into a 19-7 halftime lead and left Australia needing the same kind of miracle comeback they produced across town in 2022.
French referee Mathieu Raynal of course snuffed that unlikely Australian win out, but on Saturday night the All Blacks needed no such assistance as they put the squeeze on an already tiring Wallabies and then took advantage of their hosts' indiscipline.
Again, the Wallabies only made the situation tougher on themselves. Yellow cards to Marika Koroibete and then Taniela Tupou, the latter who was pinged for a no-arms tackle via the interjection of the Television Match Official, will only infuriate frustrated Wallabies fans further.
Both co-captain James Slipper and back-rower Jed Holloway had spoken during the week about the need for Australia to break some of their "bad habits", but one must wonder, at this stage, if that is even remotely possible.
The fact that discipline continues to be an issue is scarcely believable.
Australia also again played much of the first half without the ball, as wasteful - and poorly-executed - kicking simply handed possession and territory back to the All Blacks. By halftime the Wallabies had made 169 tackles to the All Blacks' 88 - and it was inevitable they would pay a hefty price for that stat at some stage in the second half.
"Obviously we're very disappointed about the result, the scoreline, that's a real negative for us," Jones said. "A big crowd, we wanted to show that this was a new team but, and there's always a 'but', our first 20 I thought we showed what we're capable of.
"But at the moment when we put pressure on we can't convert that pressure into points and we release pressure and we still seem to get disappointed on the field when we don't get the rewards that we think we deserve, which is an area we're continuing to work on.
"So all in all disappointing, but I really liked the way we came out in the first 20 in the first half, and the first 15 or 20 in the second half as well. They scored four of their six tries when we had yellow cards, and they made us pay for that."
The All Blacks got the dream start when Scott Barrett hammered Tate McDermott on his own line as the Wallabies curiously played off the top from a lineout five metres out from their own line. The force of the All Blacks lock's tackle jolted the ball free from McDermott's grasp and back-rower Liam Frizell had the easiest of tries after just three minutes.
The Wallabies responded through Rob Valetini -- who was easily Australia's best, one of only a handful to emerge with their reputations intact -- in a slightly strange manner after referee Wayne Barnes had let play run on two phases before Koroibete attempted to score in the corner. While the Wallabies winger's try was ruled out, the TMO also checked Valetini's effort from right under the black dot, and correctly awarded the five-pointer.
After slipping behind early, Australia had the response - and the lead - they craved. But it was only a short reprieve from what was to come as the All Blacks gradually took the upper hand, as much because of the Wallabies' poor kicking as anything, and then struck with their regained ruthless edge shortly after Koroibete was yellow carded.
Two tries before the break, including one right on the stroke of halftime, to Codie Taylor and then Will Jordan saw the visitors take a 19-7 lead into the second half and while the Wallabies had the better of the opening passages upon the resumption, their inability to turn pressure into points was telling.
Rolling mauls that went to ground. Ineffective cleanouts that were picked off by All Blacks skipper Ardie Savea. It was simply more of the same ineptitude we have come to expect from Australia.
Once the All Blacks had absorbed the best the Wallabies could throw at them, the visitors again marched up field, embraced their extra man's advantage for a second time after Tupou's dismissal, and did what the Wallabies couldn't. Pretty much immediately.
Caleb Clarke's dart from the back of the ruck was the first of three All Blacks' tries as they toyed with their hosts and gave their many travelling- and locally-based fans the entertainment they had come for, alongside the Mexican wave.
All in all, the All Blacks scored 26 points while the Wallabies were down to 14 men. And, as they say in the classics, that was that.
Telea and Rieko Ioane added the other second-half five-pointers following Clarke's effort.
Discipline. Discipline. Discipline. Australia's broken record is in so many pieces it appears beyond the point of any repair, and the job that Jones was brought home to do -- whip them into World Cup shape -- could not be any further from being completed.
If anything, they have gone backwards under Jones. He says he sees signs of improvement, and to be fair Australia's attack, early in the first half and then again after the break, did look more fluent than it had in Pretoria and Sydney.
But improvement means little unless you're putting points on the board. And Australia only had seven to show for their efforts at the MCG.
Whether the coach is prepared to give 22-year-old playmaker Carter Gordon another opportunity next week will be interesting, but the youngster's horrendous kicking, out of hand, for touch and for goal -- he missed an early penalty from right in front that would have taken the Wallabies out to 10-5 -- was simply unacceptable.
There may yet be an SOS call to Bernard Foley.
The return of prop Angus Bell and tireless defensive effort of Tom Hooper, who played out the 80 minutes and made an incredible 35 tackles, adding a breakdown turnover for good measure, were probably the only other positives for Australia alongside Valetini.
"I'm so proud of our players, the way they've gone about their work, they've worked really hard," Jones added on his team. "But we know it's not good enough, and we apologise to all the fans and we know it's not good enough. But that's my fault, that's my responsibility, and I'll take it on the chin."
All Blacks coach Ian Foster, meanwhile, could not be any happier. The Bledisloe Cup secure. The Rugby Championship secure. And three from three in a World Cup year, only 10 months after he was very nearly shown the door and replaced by Scott Robertson.
"Not relief, celebration, I think if it's relief that means that you're going in with a bit of fear and trepidation and you're worried about things. We treasure these opportunities, " Foster said when asked to describe his satisfaction with his team's efforts thus far in 2023.
"And I know the record's strong and I know that's hurting the Aussies, but the only message I can give is that it means a lot to us, and that shows in our performance. It's one thing that we never ever take for granted and we get delighted when we win it -- so it's a pretty happy shed in there."
Anyone who thinks New Zealand may have been a spent force, or at least not among the truly elite nations in France later this year, has surely now revisited that assessment. The tournament hosts, world No. 1 Ireland and the Springboks, who were well beaten in Auckland, will know what is coming.
With Scott Barrett playing the rugby of his life, a dominant set-piece, quality finishers in Jordan, Ioane and even Telea - his quick tap aside - and veterans Aaron Smith and Richie Mo'unga pulling the strings, the three-time World Cup champions are humming.
The Wallabies? Down on confidence, winless and with some inherent issues they simply don't appear capable of fixing. There is only pride to play for yet again in the Bledisloe and then a month to find at least some improvement before they meet Georgia in Paris.
The Europeans might just fancy themselves at this point, the Fijians and Wales, too. For the Wallabies are barely a Datsun, as Jones had described them in Sydney, they look like a broken-down old bomb that is beyond tinkering and are likely headed for the World Cup scrapheap -- perhaps even earlier than widely predicted.
Not that Jones would let you believe it. He remains as bullish as ever.
Convincing Wallabies fans of that the team is headed in the right direction might not be so easy.