BLEDISLOE EMBARRASSMENT: WALLABIES TAUNTED WITH EDEN PARK RECORD

THE Wallabies were taunted by Kiwi media for their 32-year losing streak to the All Blacks in Auckland after setting up camp.

Fresh from the 38-13 drubbing New Zealand dished out to Australia last weekend in Sydney, the Kiwi media couldn’t wait to remind Wallabies players how long it’s been since they won at Eden Park, venue for Saturday’s second Bledisloe Cup Test.

Having set up base on Waiheke Island off the coast of Auckland, the Wallabies must defeat the All Blacks here for the first time since 1986 to keep the Bledisloe series alive.

Enforcer Adam Coleman was asked if he remembered the last time the Wallabies won at Eden Park, and said he couldn’t recall but that Rugby Australia president Tony Shaw had told players he’d won there.

A Kiwi reporter then asked: “Is your president quite old?”

Coleman could only grin, but replied: “We laugh about it but we’re here to do a job.

“We hold high standards of each other, and the boys are hurting at the moment.

“But to come here and play at Eden Park, it’s something the boys are really looking forward to.”

Shaw, 65, captained the Wallabies to the famous 30-16 win over the All Blacks in Auckland in 1978, when teammate Greg Cornelson scored four tries.

While the Wallabies did defeat Wales in the 2011 Rugby World Cup third-versus-fourth playoff match at Eden Park, against the All Blacks at this venue it has been nothing but doom and gloom since before the first Rugby World Cup had been played.

“That’s even more reason for us to turn up this week and do our fans proud and country proud,” winger Dane HaylettPetty said.

“We know we’re good enough. We were good enough for 39 minutes in the game and we’ve got to be able to do it for 80 minutes.

“It’s going to take a very good performance but we’ve got a very good team, a lot of quality, experienced players and very good coaches. If we stick to what we do well, we’ll do well.”

Second-rower Coleman said much work would be done this week to rectify the Wallabies’ wobbly lineout that lost seven of its own throws last Saturday at ANZ Stadium.

“From a set-piece perspective, it was disappointing from us but we’re reviewing that very, very hard,” Coleman said.

“They had a shift-peel play when they first came into the attacking 22 and really changed the picture.

“Defensively, I think our boys had made improvement in that area but it’s just disappointing from our attack perspective.

“We were really turning [the ball] over and relieving pressure which, in turn, didn’t give our team the opportunity to attack.

“We let down people on our home turf and it hurts.”