‘It’s on this group’: Harry Wilson’s message before Bledisloe II

Harry Wilson has spoken about the opportunity the Wallabies have this weekend against the All Blacks, as the men in gold look to bounce back from a 50-19 defeat in Auckland and claim a drought-breaking win over their arch-rival.

Wilson was a Test rugby rookie when the Wallabies last tasted victory against the All Blacks, lining up at No. 8 in a 24-22 thriller at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium. James Slipper brought up 100 Test appearances and Michael Hooper captained the side on November 7, 2020.

The All Blacks have since gone unbeaten in the last dozen meetings between the sides, which is an all-time record in this matchup. They retained the Bledisloe Cup for a 24^th straight year with a 31-point win at their Auckland fortress, Eden Park, last weekend.

But the Wallabies are embracing the challenge that awaits, as they look to give Australian fans more to cheer about as part of a historic quadruple-header in Sydney. Wilson says “it’s on this group” to get the job done and snap the losing streak.

“It’s another opportunity for us. Obviously you’re frustrated with any Test match you lose,” Wilson told reporters in Sydney.

“The thing about this group, we found ways to win against some really tough nations.

“Obviously we haven’t had the rub of the green against the All Blacks, they’ve been dominating us over the last few years, and I guess it’s on this group to fix that up.”

Wilson touched down for one of Australia’s two first half tries last weekend, with the visitors down by just three points at half-time. But the All Blacks ran away with the result during the second half, with Cam Roigard and Codie Taylor among the try-scorers.

Leroy Carter, Josh Moorby and Will Jordan also got on the scoresheet as the All Blacks brought up a half century in the dying stages. It also saw the All Blacks extend their unbeaten run at the Garden to a remarkable 54 games, dating back to the 1990s.

Wallabies coach Les Kiss has made changes for the second Bledisloe Cup Test, with lineout caller Josh Canham returning from injury via the bench. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii has moved back to the centres, with Len Ikitau unavailable due to injury.

Isaac Henry will line up at inside centre, with Wallabies rookie Declan Meredith coming into the run-on side at fly-half. Ben Donaldson is out due to injury, which has seen Kiss select potential debutant Harry McLaughlin-Phillips on the bench.

“To lose to the All Blacks always hurts,” Wilson said.

“We’ve got an opportunity to go out here in front of our home crowd and really put in a strong performance.

“It’s been a big week of reflecting for us as a squad and seeing where we can improve and now we’ve got to go out there and do it.”