The San Francisco 49ers dominated the Los Angeles Rams 27-7 in front of more than 100,000 fans at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday morning.
Both sides took vastly different travel strategies ahead of the first-ever regular season NFL game in Australia. The 49ers arrived in Melbourne a week before the game, while the Rams spent just over 24 hours Down Under before the 10.30am kick-off.
San Francisco got on the scoreboard first with a field goal in the opening quarter, but it was not until the second quarter that the game began to open up. A rushing touchdown to Kyren Williams gave the Rams a four-point advantage, before an interception by the Rams a few minutes later threatened to sink San Francisco.
However, the 49ers defence held out until Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford threw a pick of his own. San Francisco found the end zone four minutes from half-time on a deep ball from Brock Purdy to Demarcus Robinson.
They carried that momentum into the third quarter, a 51-yard drive leading to a touchdown to wide receiver Mike Evans. The Rams appeared to have found their way back into the game late in the quarter when a diving catch put Puka Nacua into the end zone, but he was ruled to be just short.
San Francisco's defence then stuffed Stafford at the one-yard line before a touchdown to Deebo Samuel and another field goal sealed the win for the 49ers. Purdy finished with three touchdowns, 205 passing yards and a turnover, while the reigning MVP Stafford was held to just 155 yards and an interception.