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LIVE MATCH CENTRE - New Zealand v Australia


New Zealand v Australia
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New Zealand and Australia head to Japan this weekend for the third and final instalment of this year’s Bledisloe Cup.

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The All Blacks triumphed comfortably in the opening two matches on their way to winning the Rugby Championship, leaving the Wallabies playing for pride in Yokohama.

New Zealand have lost just twice in their last 21 games against Australia (W17, D2), winning nine of their last 10 games against the Wallabies, including the most recent encounter at a neutral venue – 34-17 at Twickenham in the 2015 Rugby World Cup final.

These sides have only met in Japan on one previous occasion, with the All Blacks prevailing 32-19 in 2009.

Australia endured a miserable Rugby Championship, finishing only a point off the bottom, and have won just three of their last 11 games (L8).

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You may also like: Wallaby head coach Michael Cheika speaks ahead of All Blacks Test

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The Wallabies will be well aware of the threat posed by Rieko Ioane, who has scored three more Test tries (10) than any other player in 2018.

The top try scorers for Australia this year are Will Genia and Dane Haylett-Petty with three each.

Israel Folau has scored just two tries in seven matches this year – in 2017, he scored 12 tries in just 10 matches.

Whatever the result, it promises to be a special day for Sekope Kepu, named among the replacements, who could become the ninth player to win 100 caps for Australia and the first prop to do so. He would be the 10th prop from any nation to reach this milestone.

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Watch: Wallabies skipper Hooper on Kepu and how to beat the All Blacks

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Phantom 1 hour ago
Nations Championship: 'The data shows the north has finally caught up with the south'

Fact: the gap between the North and the South has narrowed considerably - that I get. However, determining that only selecting only Home grown players or playing in the home country is is the optimal strategy is a bit of a toss up and highly reliant on the economies of the home union. I do understand that England and to a lesser degree Ireland selects home based only. The top 14 is a massive threat to their domestic product. France would probably not be affected (the money is at home). Fiji, Argentina, Samoa, Italy and you could even argue Scotland have only benefitted from this. Their players either go overseas to learn at higher levels (Fiji, Samoa, Argentina) or players coming into their leagues to strengthen the home product and their National teams (Scotland, Italy, Japan).

South Africa used to limit its selection to the home based players, but the reality of a weak currency vs what players could earn oversees meant that you lost access to your best players at some stage of their careers, with very few exceptions. Kolbe left SA as he was considered too small for International Rugby (yes coaches/selectors view), but ironically in France he forced selectors to notice his endeavors and select him. He is only reaching 50 caps now despite being north of 30 - granted rotation and the odd injury also played a role, but for the most part it is having debuted or becoming a regular so late.



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