Saturday’s Test against the All Blacks isn’t just another Bledisloe Cup fixture, it’s the Wallabies’ most important match ahead of the 2027 World Cup.
The odds might be stacked against them after Will Skelton didn’t get on the plane to Auckland, and Rob Valetini and Andrew Kellaway suffered calf injuries after being named in the squad, but the Wallabies must take a leaf out of South Africa’s book and fire a shot.
Seven years ago Rassie Erasmus, having just taken over from Allister Coetzee, extraordinarily threatened to resign if the Springboks didn’t knock over the All Blacks on his first visit to New Zealand.
The Boks, who slipped up against the Wallabies in Brisbane, wowed the All Blacks, beating Steve Hansen’s side 36-34 in a dramatic Test that confirmed the Springboks were indeed back after they earlier beat England at home.
The Springboks celebrate during their stunning win over the All Blacks in 2018. (Photo by Anthony Au-Yeung/Getty Images)
The momentum and belief garnered by knocking over the All Blacks in the New Zealand capital, a victory that came after Coetzee’s Springboks were whacked with successive hammerings in 2016 and 2017, proved to be springboard for their run to World Cup glory.
It rallied a nation, with Siya Kolisi proving to be the inspirational leader the Springboks needed. That South Africa needed.
The Wallabies need that moment.
Beating the Lions in Sydney and the Springboks at Ellis Park in the space of a couple of weeks, and just nine months after their famous win over England at Twickenham, has made Australians sit up and take notice of Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies.
It’s made Australians proud to speak of the Wallabies once more, to dig out gold jerseys of yesteryear (and not just for the car wash) and buy fresh strips.
But only firing a shot against the All Blacks will truly put the Wallabies back on the map in Australia.
Without the Bledisloe Cup for 22 years, most of the Wallabies’ backline weren’t even out of nappies when John Mitchell’s side beat Eddie Jones’ to wrestle back the precious piece of silverware. Some, like Max Jorgensen and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, weren’t even born.
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii wasn’t alive the last time the Wallabies held the Bledisloe Cup. (Photo by Jason McCawley/Getty Images)
And in the battle for air time, players, hearts and minds, as well as someone and something to believe in, knocking over Scott Robertson’s side in a live Bledisloe Cup fixture at Eden Park, a ground that the All Blacks haven’t lost at in 31 years, would do more than anything else to supercharge momentum leading into the 2027 World Cup.
There might not be a better time to meet the All Blacks either.
After losing two of their past three Tests, and scraping past a second-string French side in July, the All Blacks are by no means the scary outfit of years gone by.
For the first time in more than a decade, the All Blacks don’t have one of Scott Barrett, Sam Whitelock or Brodie Retallick in their side.
The back-row is still quality but doesn’t resemble the feared loose trios of the past, even with Ardie Savea back in the No.7 jersey.
Scott Barrett will miss the All Blacks’ important clash against the Wallabies. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)
While the backline has potency across the park, it has yet to click in 2025.
They have, however, brought back a couple of tried and tested warriors in Codie Taylor and Cam Roigard, who have given the All Blacks experience and quality to shore up their matchday squad.
But there remains a feeling of trepidation on the Shaky Isles, especially given Schmidt has picked a team that is likely to run the ball and chance their arm with Tate McDermott starting and Max Jorgensen at fullback.
“I think most New Zealanders would be genuinely concerned, mainly because this is a different looking Australian team,” former All Blacks centre Daryl Gibson said on The Roar Rugby podcast.
“They come here top of the table, I don’t think anyone would have expected that. I don’t think anyone would have expected Australia to perform so well in the Lions series, and apart from a penalty that should have gone your way in Test two, it could have been a lot different.
“Then you go to South Africa and upset the South Africans, playing a game style that is attacking and one that, I’d imagine, if you’re an Australian player playing that way with a coach that has set you up like you have, you’d be into it. So from a New Zealand point of view, 100 per cent, there’s a lot riding on this game, obviously the Bledisloe, the Championship and the Eden Park record.”
So what better way to announce your candidacy as a World Cup threat than by burying decades of misery against the All Blacks at a venue and in a country that has always been the global pacesetters?
Christy Doranhttps://https://ift.tt/G327FvC Bledisloe opener is the Wallabies’ most important match ahead of the 2027 World Cup
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