DOUBLE ACT
ABs, Black Ferns target Aussies
Peel back the lid on the history of the Bledisloe Cup, and there’s a treasure trove of memories for rugby tragics.
It’s all right there. Controversy and heartbreak, happiness and angst, camaraderie and calamity. Speaking of controversy, you can say there’s some right there from the get-go.
The Aussies believe that the Bledisloe first went up for grabs when the two countries played at Eden Park in Auckland on September 12, 1931. New Zealand Rugby reckons it was July 2, 1932 – a game the All Blacks lost 22-17.
If you go with the earlier date, it means the All Blacks have won 99 of the Bledisloe Cup clashes against their opponent.
By that rationale, they are poised – all going to plan – to bring up the 100 at Eden Park tonight. Regardless, there’s been plenty to chat about over the years.
Here’s a look at 10 memorable games between the two countries.
1. Australia 22 New Zealand 9 September 6, 1986 Eden Park, Auckland
If you were a Wallaby, or one of their fans, this outcome certainly was a goody. Clearly this defeat didn’t go down well among some sections of the New Zealand rugby parish, given a number of experienced players had been banned from the first test in Dunedin as punishment for participating in the rebel tour of South Africa.
The loss at Eden Park, the third and deciding test, resulted in the Aussies winning the series 2-1 and carting the Bleddie back to their hotel. The reality is the All Blacks, operating under inexperienced captain David Kirk, appeared hellbent on pulling all the seals out of their lurching ship by committing to a game plan that involved running the ball from the deep.
Tsk, tsk. What a disaster. The Wallabies’ defenders were never going to let the Kiwis get away with that. Understandably, they celebrated long and hard afterwards. If they could have known what was in store they might have lingered in the changing sheds a bit longer to savour the moment. Because they have never won in Auckland since. It’s been a drought of biblical proportions.
2 New Zealand 33 Australia 18 September 11, 1982 Eden Park, Auckland
Small mountains of half-eaten lunches were piled up in farm houses, offices and factories, and roads suddenly resembled abandoned runways as nervous New Zealanders contemplated another season without the Bleddie. With the series locked up 1-1, rugby diehards could hardly bring themselves to mobilise their jawbones, let alone their motors ahead of the Bledisloe Cup decider. Lose the game and the Aussies would retain the trophy they had held since 1978.
As it happened, the nervous types need not have fretted. The All Blacks, having trailed by three points at halftime, battered their opponents in the second half and fullback Allan Hewson bettered Fergie McCormick’s record by scoring 26 points. Hewie scored a try and kicked two conversions, five penalties and a drop goal in front of 52,000 fans on a sunny day at the garden of Eden. Yippee.
3. New Zealand 39 Australia 35 July 15, 2000 Stadium Australia, Sydney
In the unlikely event Australia Rugby Union CEO Raelene Castle reads this, here’s some advice: Take a seat, Rae, because you can only wish you had things as good as your your predecessors. A record crowd of 109,878 fans attended this game at Stadium Australia (now ANZ Stadium) in Sydney.
The test itself was also something to shout about. Each team scored five tries, the All Blacks relying on a late try from wing Jonah Lomu (preceded by a fine overhead pass by Taine Randell) to earn them the victory.
4. Australia 28 New Zealand 7 August 28, 1999 Stadium Australia, Sydney
Fair play to the Ockers, they deserved this – and their forwards were magnificent. Efficient in the scramble for loose ball, the Wallabies pack scored a try off a lineout drive and they squeezed their opponents even more as the rain fell in the second spell.
It was a memorable night for Wallabies fullback Matt Burke who kicked seven penalties and converted Mark Connors’ try.
5. New Zealand 43 Australia 6 July 6, 1996 Athletic Park, Wellington
Demolition derby time. Michael Jones, Christian Cullen, Justin Marshall, Zinzan Brooke, Jeff Wilson and Jonah Lomu scored tries for the hosts. All the Wallabies could manage were two penalties by Matt Burke in the first half.
A southerly wind and rain could have been used as excuses by the Aussies, but they knew better than to snivel. Anyone with half an eye on this fixture knew the Wallabies had been lashed by 15 men in black who never stopped swinging the cat o’ nine tails.
Overwhelmed by an opponent that was in terrific form, the visitors just accepted their medicine. After fulltime they plucked themselves out of the mud, counted the track marks over bodies and wondered if life could get any worse. As they stood under the showers inside the decrepit Athletic Park changing sheds, and watched the blocked drains fill with dirty water they probably got their answer.
6. Australia 26 New Zealand 10 July 12, 1980 Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney
Maybe it was the pies. Or perhaps it was the prawns. Whatever it was, you can bet the All Blacks wished they had avoided the tucker after they were violently ill on the eve of this game.
It was later reported that No 8 Murray Mexted and tighthead prop Gary Knight were still vomiting just a couple of hours prior to kickoff, so off to hospital they went for a few jabs to help them get through the game.
Fair play to the Aussies, all the same. They deserved to win, claiming four tries to one, and the Bledisloe Cup was theirs.
7. New Zealand 28 Australia 24 September 13, 2008 Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
If Robbie Deans had managed to inspire the Wallabies to a win in this series decider, who knows whether things might have turned out different? Deans, having taken over as Wallabies coach just months earlier, was pitting his wits against the men he was unable to dislodge from the All Blacks’ coaching panel after the 2007 World Cup quarterfinal exit: Graham Henry, Steve Hansen and Wayne Smith kept their job, so Deans joined the enemy.
Had the Aussies won, they would have secured the Bledisloe. Perhaps that would have inspired them, and given them the confidence, to do bigger and better things in future seasons.
Entertainment was on tap in the old Lang Park. In the end the All Blacks had too much star quality, with Dan Carter scoring a vital try and slotting all four of his conversion attempts.
8. New Zealand 21 Australia 17 August 16, 2003 Eden Park, Auckland
When referee Jonathan Kaplan put an end to this game the Bledisloe Cup was back in New Zealand’s possession for the first time since 1997.
No wonder, then, that the All Blacks reacted the way they did. It was a joyful time for rugby fans in Aotearoa. You could hardly blame the players for acting like kids who discovered Santa Claus has emptied the whole sack of presents under the Christmas tree.
The All Blacks had to suffer the indignity of losing to the Wallabies in the World Cup semifinal in Sydney later in 2003, and hearing George Gregan taunt them with the ‘‘four more years, boys’’ statement certainly stung.
9. Australia 30 New Zealand 16 September 9, 1978 Eden Park, Auckland
Four tries to Wallabies No 8 Greg Cornelsen, not a name that was on most punters’ lips as they sucked the life out of their pies prior to kick-off, is what we remember most from this one. The Wallabies, having lost the first two tests in Wellington and Christchurch, weren’t expected to be up to much.
Then Cornelsen, a superannuation consultant from Queensland, became the first player to four score tries in a test against the All Blacks. It’s a statistic that deserves to still feature in pub quizzes in both countries.
10. Australia 24 New Zealand 23 August 5, 2000 Westpac Stadium, Wellington
John Eales made the task of kicking the winning goal look so easy.
With time up on the clock, and the Aussies trailing by two points, captain Eales suddenly discovered his goalkicker Stirling Mortlock was no longer on the park because he has been suffering cramps.
So Eales, a lock, took matters in his own hands. If this scene had been in a Western movie he would have slowly drained his bottle of grog and casually flicked a cigarette before winning the gunfight outside the saloon.
As it was Eales leaned the ball forward on the kicking tee, and then slapped it with his right boot. It never looked like missing. Kiwis around the country slumped from their couches, assuming the foetal position.
Simple? Like hell! This was a test match, and if Eales had missed he would have been forced to hand the Bledisloe to his counterpart Todd Blackadder.
There was pressure, and lots of it. But he made it look so easy.