Winding back the clock on Wallabies
After the 47-26 thrashing in the first Bledisloe Cup test in Perth, the Aussie media offered a pointed headline: “Wallabies warned not to take All Blacks’ senior citizens lightly”.
Using FaceApp to turn photos of current All Blacks Sonny Bill Williams, Sam Whitelock and captain Kieran Read into old men, an Aussie newspaper offered no respite to the humbled world champions ahead of the crunch test at Eden Park — poking the supposedly ageing bear.
The Wallabies were hailed as lively young pups compared with the All Blacks side which capitulated in Perth, with several of the New Zealand stars in their 30s.
But along with the All Blacks’ age, comes a history of world rugby dominance — in particular a
33-year unbeaten streak against the Wallabies at Eden Park, a stretch of
18 tests. “The problem with Eden Park is that every time you play there, you’ve got to play the All Blacks,” said Andrew Slack, the last Wallabies skipper to beat the All Blacks at the Auckland stronghold. “It’s a tough opposition every time but I’ve got no answers why it’s taken 33 years — well, hopefully taken 33 years to get another win.”
The All Blacks also haven’t lost to their transtasman rivals twice in a row since 2001, when Australia edged New Zealand 29-26 in Sydney.
None of Australia’s starting XV were even born the last time the Wallabies tasted victory against the All Blacks at their fortress in 1986.
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika was a promising teenage No 8 who went on to represent the Australian under-21s in 1988, before heading off the following year to play club rugby in France and Italy.