Ex-All Black makes 'fire and brimstone' Bledisloe Cup prediction

The All Blacks have been tipped to show up and show out by one of the team’s great forefathers when they run out against the Wallabies at Eden Park this weekend.

60-Test All Blacks prop Craig Dowd says, “There is only one result this weekend” in his mind, knowing what the weeks following a loss can be like in the New Zealand camp.

With Wellington’s heavy South Africa defeat still fresh in the minds of players and fans alike, and with the team hosting the game at their spiritual home ground of Eden Park with their second-favourite trophy, the Bledisloe Cup,  on the line, Dowd expects a raging bull, clad in black, to be unleashed in Auckland.

“I’m not expecting anything less than fire and brimstone from the All Blacks this week, and I don’t envy the Australian team,” Dowd told D’Arcy Waldegrave of Newstalk ZB.

“That loss has got to hurt, and the debrief they would have been through, the pain that those guys would be suffering would be unbearable. I’m picking that it’s going to be fire and brimstone.”

Head-to-Head

Last 5 Meetings

Wins

5

Draws

0

Wins

0

Average Points scored

30

20

First try wins

60%

Home team wins

60%

Reflecting on his time in the black jersey, Dowd said his 15-odd defeats live sharply in his memory. The media, the Kiwi public, and the coaches all ensured the team didn’t get comfortable with defeat.

“I don’t remember all of the games that I played for the All Blacks, but I never forget the losses. And any player you ask will come out and say they never forgot losing in the black jersey, because it was horrible. And if you’re lucky enough to get another crack after a loss, then you definitely make up for it…

“Laurie Mains would just say, ‘On the line,’ and he would cane us, physically. Just absolutely run the s*** out of us. John Hart would be more analytical and go through what happened and have an honesty session.

“But you felt it. Any player who’s worth half a grain of salt, he knows. Everyone in the All Blacks team has their own standards, and if you drop your standard, which causes a loss, then it’s not great.”

Casting his eye over the last two rounds of The Rugby Championship, in which the All Blacks split results with South Africa during a two-Test series, Dowd said there was a big difference between the two fixtures from the outset.

“I personally believe the occasion of a South African team at Eden Park, a week earlier, was as big of a game as you’re going to get outside of a World Cup; outside a World Cup final, even. There was a lot of pressure, and the All Blacks had to win that game. It was Ardie Savea’s 100th game, and I think they played so well, they got the win, and they dropped their guard.

“I think the standard from 15 players taking the field was not the same standard we saw a week earlier. So, unfortunately, they’re human.”