WALLABIES MUST END CURSE OF EDEN PARK

THE Wallabies laid down a marker in Melbourne with their courageous, rousing and spirited performance in Bledisloe I.

As former representative centre Morgan Turinui said, it was “the best performance by the Wallabies in years”. It was.

Though, as Dave Rennie pointed out on Thursday, “we lost, so we need to go one better”.

But if Rennie’s men do not back up that match by taking it to Ian Foster’s men on Saturday at Eden Park in Auckland, their performance in Melbourne will mean little.

It will, despite Rennie not wanting to entertain that talk earlier this month, be another case of “one step forward and two back”.

For two decades the Wallabies have tried to go toe-to-toe with the All Blacks but when the big moments have arrived, they have folded.

Eden Park is the All Blacks’ last bastion. It is their fortress – the last remaining graveyard for international opposition.

Ireland, after being blown away in 20 minutes at Eden Park in July, managed to win, firstly, in Dunedin, and, secondly, in Wellington, to claim a thrilling series win.

Then Michael Cheika’s Pumas knocked over Foster’s All Blacks in Christchurch in late August.

Now it is Eden Park – a venue at which the All Blacks have not lost since 1994 – where James Slipper’s side will attempt to pile more pressure on Foster’s miserable reign over the All Blacks.

The Wallabies have quite rightly been breathing fire ever since Foster’s ungracious response to the All Blacks’ great escape in Bledisloe I, when he said the controversial decision by referee Mathieu Raynal that cost the Wallabies the game was “clear cut”.

But unless they fire a shot at Eden Park, they won’t win the respect of the Australian public nor the rugby world.

The Wallabies must follow the lead of Rassie Erasmus, the brilliant coach who inspired the Springboks to a remarkable victory in Wellington in 2018 after threatening to resign had they lost.

Saturday, at Eden Park, must be the moment the Wallabies grab the bull by the horns and stand up for their future. The Bledisloe Cup might be gone, but an Eden Park hoodoo must be ended.

If they do that, they will prove to themselves, as much as anyone else, that they are a rugby force.

Until then, they will continue to be belittled by Foster’s All Blacks.

Everybody can appreciate the growing depth on Australian shores. The Wallabies pushed the All Blacks without their regular captain Michael Hooper, Samu Kerevi, Quade Cooper, Taniela Tupou, Tom Banks, Rory Arnold and Will Skelton.

More than anything, their fight showed the character that will be needed at Eden Park.