Hooper senses chance of upset

FED up with being reminded about how long it’s been since Australia last held the Bledisloe Cup, Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper is backing his young teammates to turn the page in Saturday’s third test at ANZ Stadium.

For the record, the All Blacks have held the Bledisloe Cup since 2003, but that could all change if the Wallabies win the two Tests on home soil.

“I‘m not focused on history, I’m focused on tomorrow night,” Hooper said.

“We have a really good opportunity in Sydney, we have a really good, exciting young team that’s playing some pretty good footy. We’re looking to improve.”

Injuries to senior players have forced the Wallabies to select a side low on international experience, with fiveeighth Noah Lolesio and inside centre Irae Simone both set to make their Test debuts in a side where seven of the 15 starters have worn the gold jersey five or less times.

Unsurprisingly, the All Blacks have threatened to attack the Australian newcomers, while poking fun at the Wallabies’ defence after they missed 40 tackles in the 27-7 second test loss in Auckland.

“It wouldn‘t surprise me if they’d be doing a wee bit of tackling practice,” New Zealand captain Sam Cane said.

“Everyone knows your defence has to be good to win Test matches.

“We’re still confident that if we can hold on to the ball, we can force them to make a lot of tackles and hopefully miss a few too.”

Hooper’s heard all that same bluster from the All Blacks before, including their last match in Australia in 2019, when the Wallabies won 47-26 – marking New Zealand’s heaviest ever defeat.

Still, Hooper is the first to acknowledge the Wallabies let themselves down badly after drawing the series opener in Wellington, which has opened the possibility Australia can win back the Bledisloe Cup just by winning at home.

“We talked about being accurate a lot during the week, the way we kicked the ball to the opposition, the way we were turned (the ball) over through our own errors and the way the Kiwis put pressure on us,” he said.

“We need to control our game a bit better.”