'We've seen footage': Fear driving All Blacks ahead of Bledisloe Cup

The fear of being the first team in almost a quarter of a century to relinquish the Bledisloe Cup is driving the All Blacks ahead of Saturday’s trans-Tasman blockbuster with the Wallabies in Sydney.

The Wallabies sense a “massive opportunity” to finally bring the coveted silverware back to Australia for the first time since 2002 as they tackle an All Blacks outfit fresh off rare back-to-back Test defeats.

But New Zealand captain Scott Barrett says his class of 2024 are desperate to avoid being that team in All Blacks history to lose the beloved Bledisloe.

“Certainly not,” Barrett said on Friday.

“We draw upon, I guess, our history and at times when the Bledisloe Cup was over here and past players have said there was certainly some dark times when they were in the team.

“So this group certainly doesn’t want to go through that and we want to do everything tomorrow afternoon to get one hand on the trophy.”

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Australia

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Barrett said that while his side hadn’t spoken specifically to any former players, including coach Scott Robertson, who were among those to endure five years between 1998 and 2003 without the trophy, the dark chapter in All Blacks history was well known and felt.

“We’ve seen footage,” he said.

“We’ve heard from coaches within the group and they remember where they were exactly when the likes of John Eales hit the (winning) penalty (in Wellington in 2000) and, yes, moments like that.

“That certainly means a lot to us. You look into the history and what it means to this team and the Bledisloe Cup means a lot to us.

“So, yeah, we certainly want to turn up tomorrow.”

It means so much that the prized piece of silverware has sat in the All Blacks’ team room all week in the lead-up to game one at Accor Stadium.

“Typically we show the cup and physically see what we’re playing for and, from there, we take it out and we (know we) have to earn it at the end of the day.

“It’s up for grabs, so it’s not ours. We’ve got to go out there and take it.

“There’s 23 Australians that would love to get their hands on that cup.”

With the All Blacks losing at home to Argentina, then turning the tables on the Pumas before falling twice to the Springboks in South Africa, the 20-time Rugby Championship champions have made their worst start ever to the tournament.

Head-to-Head

Last 5 Meetings

Wins

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Draws

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Wins

5

Average Points scored

20

30

First try wins

60%

Home team wins

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The Wallabies are also one from four, having too lost twice to South Africa and beating Argentina before suffering a record 67-27 last-start defeat to the Pumas.

Wallabies captain Harry Wilson insists his charges aren’t scarred by the second-half collapse in Santa Fe.

“To be honest, we’ve obviously taken the loss and we’ve learnt from that and, for us, we played some pretty good footy in that Argentina trip,” the No.8 said.

“We’ve won three out of four halves and we’ve just really got to fix up when when we’re going bad.

“We’ve got to find a way to get going good in the games and the big moments and we’re just super motivated to perform for each other, perform for our country.

“It’s a massive opportunity.”

The Wallabies must beat the All Blacks in Sydney for a first time since 2015 to keep the Bledisloe dream alive heading to Wellington for the return bout on Saturday week.

Joe Schmidt’s team must win the two-match series to win back the Bledisloe.

Past Wallabies coaches Eddie Jones (2004), John Connolly (2007), Robbie Deans (2011) and Michael Cheika (2015 and 2019) have all experienced the pain of a drawn series and no cigar.