Bledisloe Cup: Eventually this great sporting record will be broken but not this weekend – Editorial
Fortress Eden Park.
Once again, the barbarians are at the gates. This time, they’re wearing canary yellow.
The last day the All Blacks tasted defeat at the famous Auckland rugby ground was in 1994, when Jean-Luc Sadourny’s “try from the end of the world” secured a 23-20 victory and a historic series win for France.
Since then, there have been 53 tests. The All Blacks have won 49 of them, the rest have been draws, including the 15-15 tie with the British and Irish Lions in 2017.
The remarkable run, which must be considered among sport’s greatest-ever achievements, began with an 18-18 draw against South Africa in 1994.
Since then, the fortress has been attacked over and over again but has been defended by the men in black against every siege.
The Irish were the last to try but were never really seriously challenging the record. The All Blacks scored six tries to three in a comfortable 40-21 win.
This year, the Wallabies arrive with renewed confidence.
They have a new head coach and enter the fortress after an impressive win against the Springboks, the World Cup champions, even if coach Rassie Erasmus did rest many of his star players for the match.
The Wallabies are desperate to regain the Bledisloe Cup. They haven’t enjoyed a drink from it since 2002.
Since then, the rivalry has been entirely one-sided. The All Blacks have simply dominated, with sporadic wins by the Wallabies.
The current win streak for the All Blacks against the Wallabies is 11.
Australia last beat them in Brisbane in 2020 and haven’t won in New Zealand since their great team from the late 1990s and early 2000s won 23-15 at Carisbrook in 2001.
It is now a long time since that great Wallabies team created such memorable moments in the rivalry.
Most of us will remember what has been dubbed the greatest-ever rugby test match ever played, a 39-35 All Blacks win at the siren in Sydney back in 2000, thanks to a dramatic Jonah Lomu try. Then in the return fixture a few weeks later, John Eales broke Kiwi hearts with thatkick in Wellington.
Despite the one-sided nature of the contest in recent years, the Bledisloe Cup still clearly means a lot to the players.
For neutral rugby fans, a Wallabies’ Bledisloe Cup win would reignite interest in the transtasman rivalry, particularly ahead of next year’s Rugby World Cup in Australia.
The All Blacks and their supporters have one job. To defend Eden Park once more.
Eventually, this great sporting record will be broken. But not this weekend. Not against Australia.