BRISBANE, Australia - Daniel Carter scored the match-sealing try and kicked four conversions Saturday to guide New Zealand to a 28-24 win over Australia and a fourth consecutive Tri-Nations title.

The All Blacks, who entered the series-deciding match a competition point ahead of Australia, trailed by 10 points with 30 minutes remaining before scoring three tries in 17 minutes to build an 11-point lead.

Replacement scrumhalf Piri Weepu darted over in the 62nd minute, running onto a Sitiveni Sivivatu pass from the ground, to put New Zealand back in front after prop Tony Woodcock had scampered 20 metres down the touchline to score in the 50th to close the gap.

Carter converted both from the sideline as the All Blacks took a 21-17 lead.

Playing at inside centre after Stephen Donald came on at flyhalf to give him more space, Carter then bounced off Ryan Cross's tackle near the line to extend the margin to 28-17.

Cross dragged three tacklers over in the 77th minute in a powerful, solo burst and Matt Giteau converted to cut the margin to four points and set up a frantic last two minutes.

The Australians attacked desperately and again made it into the New Zealand quarter but fittingly, it was New Zealand's defence that held firm.

"I'm elated with what the guys have done," New Zealand coach Graham Henry said. "It's probably the sweetest victory we've had."

It was New Zealand's ninth Tri-Nations title since the competition was launched in 1996 and sealed its sixth consecutive Bledisloe Cup series win over Australia.

Australia captain Stirling Mortlock, playing out of position at inside centre, said the New Zealanders made the most of their chances.

"They took advantage of their opportunities significantly better than we did. That was the difference," he said. "The majority of our tries we worked pretty hard for. Their tries, both that got them back into the lead, were quite soft, defensive lapses. That got their tails up."

Mortlock said it was a major improvement for Australia from a record 53-8 loss in South Africa two weeks ago and proved the Wallabies could be competitive at the top of the game.

"We ran ourselves ragged. The buildup this week was for a colossal match. We gave that for 80 minutes. Unfortunately we weren't on the positive side at the end."

Despite having only one-third of possession in the first 30 minutes, the New Zealanders led 7-3 via fullback Mils Muliaina's try in the 13th minute.

The All Blacks repelled the Australians right until seconds before half time, including one 12-phase attack inside their own quarterline.

But the Australians scored twice in five minutes either side of halftime and seemed to hold the ascendancy in the middle of the match.

Fullback Cooper dived over in stoppage time, getting an inside pass from Peter Hynes, who leaped high to regather a Giteau bomb, to give Australia a 10-7 lead at the break. Lock James Horwill reached over in Carter's tackle in the 45th to expand on it.

But the momentum swung again when New Zealand, led by backrowers Richie McCaw and Rodney So'oialo, started dominating the breakdown and putting phases together.

Centre Conrad Smith jinked inside some cover defence on an opportunist counterattacking raid in the 50th minute and passed out wide to frontrower Woodcock, who showed surprising pace to race untouched into the left corner.

Carter converted to make it 17-14 with 30 minutes remaining and the New Zealanders remained in control until the dying stages.

Henry, who was reappointed this season in favour of now-Wallaby coach Robbie Deans despite a shock quarter-final exit in the last World Cup, expected some reprieve from the critics who called for his dismissal after back-to-back losses in July.

Even he had to concede it could have gone the other way.

"I just think we hung in, perhaps outlasted the Wallabies in the second half - although the last couple of minutes were a bit dicy," said Henry, whose yells from the coach's box would have been drowned out by the capacity 52,328 crowd.

"I was telling them 'keep the ball, keep the ball.' We turned it over with 10 seconds to go and all hell broke loose," he said. "We were elated in the end."

The teams were each 3-2 coming into the deciding match, though New Zealand had one-point cushion after collecting an additional bonus point in its five previous matches.

New Zealand finished on 19 points, five clear of Australia and nine clear of World Cup winner South Africa.