Familiar question emerges ahead of second Bledisloe Test

For 24 years in a row, the Bledisloe Cup has travelled from New Zealand Rugby HQ to the arena of choice, only to return to its familiar cabinet two weeks later. All but six years of the current run have included a ‘dead-rubber’ Test.

This year’s edition continues that trend, with the Bledisloe off the table for another 12 months but another Test to be played all the same, raising a familiar question: what are the teams playing for?

The All Blacks, whose 50-19 Eden Park win put them back on track after three straight defeats to the Springboks, have addressed the question head-on in camp this week.

“We’ve spoken; there’s no trophy to play for, but internally, there are some habits and standards and a legacy that demand the All Blacks to back up and represent your country,” said Jordie Barrett. “That’s at the forefront of our thinking and our training this week; we had a great training today, and we want to maintain a really high standard and win on Saturday.

“Look, there’s no trophy to play for, but our ambition and our goals haven’t really changed.”

Defence coach Tana Umaga shared a similar sentiment when posed the same question, saying: “The pressure we put on ourselves should exceed what comes from outside.”

The former All Blacks captain, who was part of the last New Zealand team to lose the Bledisloe Cup in 2002, was a vocal contributor to the team’s preparations last week, inspiring a fierce performance that rivalled their Ellis Park win for the best of the year.

“It was something that we worked hard for,” Umaga said of the win. “We put a lot of expectation on ourselves around lifting our game from our previous campaign in South Africa, so it was great to have a response like that.

“The key thing is: how do you repeat that? There’s no Cup on the line; there’s no history of Eden Park. So, that’s where good teams go; they put pressure on themselves to be the best that they can be every week. That’s Test rugby, and that’s also the All Blacks.”

There is motivation beyond this series, and not just to uphold the All Blacks’ famous all-time win rate. This weekend’s Test match will take place at Accor Stadium, the same venue that will host next year’s Rugby World Cup final. Though it’s only a symbol of what’s to come, the weekend’s fixture offers another key opportunity for the new All Blacks coaching staff to build their game ahead of next year’s tournament.

“We’ve come in just this year, this coaching group and this player group, getting to know each other around what Dave (Rennie) wants to implement, but also, in the back of our minds, we know we’re here with the big goal being in 12 months,” Umaga added. “We’ve got to make sure that we’re putting pieces together and building nicely for that.

“As All Blacks, every game is important. The expectation from everyone back home is that we win every game, and that’s what we have to strive for. We know it’s tougher now than it was before; we’ve just got to keep working at it.”