It’s time, says Campo
THE All Blacks are fading and Australia’s time to wrest back rugby’s Bledisloe Cup is now.
That is the declaration of Wallabies great David Campese, who believes that New Zealand captain Kieran Read and halfback Aaron Smith are showing signs of decline, leaving the Kiwis vulnerable to losing their first Test at Eden Park since 1994 (23-20 to France).
“Maybe these guys have had their time,” Campese said.
“We had great teamwork last week, what I would have loved to see is us go on and put 50 points past them, because that’s what they do to us. Now it should be our turn.
“The All Blacks have lost a lot of good players to overseas, Super Rugby has been good for them but they’ve had a lot of injuries to key players.
“You build good form and confidence through regular game time. Kieran Read only played about five Super Rugby games, he’s still a bloody good player but is he as dominant as he used to be four years ago?
“And Aaron Smith just gets to the ruck and passes, he doesn’t run anymore. They’re little habits and now it appears they’re taking the easy way out.
“Has the coach been there too long as well? Who knows. If you look at our team, (Michael) Cheika has changed the game plan quite a bit. He’s brought back Nic White who’d been overseas for a few years and the All Blacks had no idea how to defend him.”
Campese, a member of the last Wallabies team to defeat New Zealand at Eden Park in 1986, met Australian captain Michael Hooper and centre James O’Connor on the turf of the Kiwi fortress yesterday, offering words of advice.
“The scary thing is the last time we won here, these guys weren’t born, that’s how long it’s been,’’ Campese said.
“It’s just that moment in your life you’ll be able to look back on and say, ‘We were are part of bringing the trophy back’. They haven’t been beaten at Eden Park since 1994, and France played outstanding rugby that day to get that win.
“It’s not going to be easy, but it would be great for Australian rugby.”
Campese told them: “Go out there and enjoy the moment, believe you can do it.
“The Wallabies have a great tradition, when we played it wasn’t about playing for each other but for those who had gone before and played for us and died during the war. Every kid, every supporter, everyone in Australia is behind you.”