1m agoSat 27 Sep 2025 at 4:40am

Eden Park the key focus of Australia’s Bledis-woe

– with Reuters

The Wallabies last won the Bledisloe Cup in 2002, but haven’t won at Eden Park since 1986 (Getty Images)

Needless to say, it has been a long time since the Wallabies have tasted success at Eden Park.

The last time the Wallabies won was in 1986, when the Andrew Slack-captained visitors won 22-9.

That long losing streak has been a millstone around the necks of visiting Australian teams but Joe Schmidt’s Wallabies may be better than their predecessors at ignoring history.

Just over a month ago they claimed a first victory at Ellis Park since 1963 with a stunning 38-22 win over world champions South Africa.

Australia has won just four of 33 Tests at Eden Park in Bledisloe matches.

The Wallabies claimed victory in 1949 (16-9), 1955 (8-3) and 1978 (30-16).

5m agoSat 27 Sep 2025 at 4:36am

Wallabies eye Eden Park ambush against All Blacks

– Reuters

(Getty Images)

Once the man with the plan in the All Blacks camp, Australia coach Joe Schmidt will look to land a decisive blow against his home nation tonight.

The Wallabies lead the tournament by a point, giving Schmidt the chance to breathe life into a rivalry deadened by decades of New Zealand dominance.

With the All Blacks still reeling from a record defeat by South Africa, and the Bledisloe Cup also on the line, the stakes have arguably never been so high in a trans-Tasman Test since the 2015 World Cup final.

As a selector, strategist and assistant coach under former All Blacks boss Ian Foster, Schmidt once played a part in prolonging Australia’s “Bledis-woe”.

The duo combined to deliver back-to-back Rugby Championships in 2022-23 and extend New Zealand’s reign over the Bledisloe Cup, the annual series contested with Australia, to 21 years.

Foster’s successor Scott Robertson retained the Cup in 2024, Schmidt’s first season with the Wallabies, and needs only to win at Eden Park to lock the trophy away for another year.

From where Schmidt sits, that carrot alone will have the All Blacks breathing fire on Saturday.

“Having coached a number of them, I know how dangerous they can be,” Schmidt told a press conference on Thursday.

“I think if you just about gave them a choice, they’d take the Bledisloe over the Rugby Championship. It is very much just the tradition of it.”

Having lost their last nine matches to New Zealand, history is very much against a Wallabies breakthrough at Eden Park.

Three weeks ago Robertson’s team beat South Africa 24-17 in a clash of the world’s top two nations, extending their unbeaten run at Eden Park to 51 matches, the longest such streak at a single venue in Test rugby.

The last time the All Blacks lost at the stadium was 1994 when France scored the “try from the end of the world” to claim a famous 23-20 win.

9m agoSat 27 Sep 2025 at 4:32am

How bad were the All Blacks last time out?

Oh, they were pretty bad.

And they know it too.

“There’ll be some real discomfort this week,” All Blacks captain Scott Barrett said last week following the record 43-10 defeat in Wellington.

You can read more about how the All Blacks want to respond, here.

11m agoSat 27 Sep 2025 at 4:30am

Hello one and all

G’day Simon. Your fingers will be busy writing the blog . Mine will be busy flicking back and forth between you and the AFL Grand Final. For someone who loves football in all it’s guises it’s a top day !

– Phillip

Hey Simon 😃👋 Wallabies!!

– Natty

Double footy day is a good day as far as I’m concerned.

Glad to have you all with us.

12m agoSat 27 Sep 2025 at 4:29am

‘They won’t go away’: The All Blacks wary of Wallabies threat(Channel 9)

Scott Robertson is speaking on Channel 9.

“When we take [our] opportunities, we’re good,” Robertson says.

“[When we] Let teams back in it, it shows just how small margins Test
footy is.”

Robertson is clearly under an enormous amount of pressure to perform as coach here.

Nobody wants to be involved, however tangentially, in the first All Blacks defeat at Eden Park since 1991.

Robertson says he wants to use that history to boost his side’s efforts.

“I use it to motivate yourself and draw back on the legacy and all the good and how hard fought it was and all the efforts of the past, and how each game is going to have its own story and you’ve got to add to it,” he says.

Robertson is asked what he’s been impressed about from the Wallabies this year.

“They’ve got some good depth. They’ve got a lot of speed. They clearly know how they’re going to play and they won’t go away,” he says.

Short and sweet. The pressure on that man is almost suffocating.

17m agoSat 27 Sep 2025 at 4:24amAll Blacks line up

In Wellington last time out, the All Blacks conceded 36 unanswered points after half-time.

However, coach Scott Robertson has backed most of his players to redeem themselves at Eden Park.

Captain Scott Barrett is out of the match, with Ardie Savea taking his place as skipper.

“He thought it might have been right to get through this weekend but it’s clearly not,” Robertson told a press conference on Thursday.

Robertson has made four changes to the starting 15 and given the bench a complete reshuffle in an attempt to maintain their supreme record at Auckland’s premier venue.

(All Blacks)

New Zealand have not been beaten at Eden Park since 1994, stretching back 51 Tests.

Australia has not won there since 1986.

“We believe a lot of the combinations and the cohesion of a group that won a few weeks ago here, it’s really important for us to keep that connection,” Robertson said earlier this week.

“They won a title fight together [against the Springboks at Eden Park] and it’s their opportunity to go and do it again this weekend.”

17m agoSat 27 Sep 2025 at 4:24am

‘I’m really excited’ for Tait McDermott(Channel 9)

Nic White, recently retired Nic White at that, albeit with an asterisks, said he’s happy with the two players in 9-10 for the Wallabies.

“I think we’ve seen what James [O’Connor] has brought over the last few games,” White said on Channel 9.

“I think just his understanding at the moment.

“It’s taken, I think, and he would rightly say himself, a little while over his career to get comfortable in that 10 jersey.

“He’s happy to just pull the strings and you’re seeing that at the moment.

“He’s
really pulling the strings and allowing others to have space and he understands space within the shape that Joe wants to play really well.

“He can kind of see the game, maybe a phase or two before knowing the way we play. He’ll know where the space will be and able to get the ball to that space. So it’s invaluable.”

He is also pleased to see Reds scrumhalf Tate McDermott get a shot in the starting role.

“Really excited, really, really excited for Tait. And he’s earnt this over the last 50 games,” he says.

“What he [Joe Schmidt] wants from his nines is a little bit different in terms of the start of the game
to what he’s been able to do at the back end of the games, but I feel like this game especially really suits Tait’s game.

“I feel like the All Blacks do give a little bit of space around the break breakdown compared to, I guess, kind of South Africa, certainly the British and Irish Lions, so it’d be a great game for Tait.”

23m agoSat 27 Sep 2025 at 4:18am

O’Connor back in Wallaby gold after settling his dog in the UK(Getty Images)

When James O’Connor boarded a plane set for England and the Leicester Tigers, there may have been more than a handful of Wallabies supporters who felt he would not be back any time soon.

Instead, just two weeks later, the ex-Force, Rebels, Reds and Crusaders man is back in Wallaby gold.

And according to the Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt, it was always part of the plan – albeit not an ideal one.

“It was always part of the plan,” Schmidt said of O’Connor’s trip.

“He was going back to set his flat up, get his dog over there.

“He booked his dog to go over and his partner, so they stuck with that, and he got across there, caught up with Geoff [Leicester coach Geoff Parling] for a couple of days.

“It’s probably not ideal that there was a bit of travel in that.

“But it just allowed him to set himself up beyond these next two weeks, so he could be free and just focusing on what’s immediately in front of us, which is a very big challenge.”

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25m agoSat 27 Sep 2025 at 4:16am

‘We need to start better’: Harry Wilson(Channel 9)

Harry Wilson is speaking on Channel 9 now.

He says there are two main things they need to do to win in Auckland today.

“We definitely need to start better,” he says.

“That’s pretty clear and obvious from everyone.

“And our collisions.

“We probably let ourselves down in those two games [against Argentina] and we definitely want to rectify it today.

He says the All Blacks are a “classy” team but as long as they can meet them up front they will be OK.

He says that Tate McDermott and James O’Connor are the best two players to lead the backs around the park.

“They’ve got a really good connection. They’re both quite calm and they just want get their hands on the ball and get into the game.

“Rabs has been really good for us, quite a vocal voice. And then Tait is always about actions and he’s had a really good week.”

29m agoSat 27 Sep 2025 at 4:12amWallabies line up

The Wallabies will start James O’Connor at number 10 jersey following his globe-trotting journey to the UK and back.

O’Connor flew to England last week to join his new club Leicester Tigers only to head back to the Antipodes days later after being named in Joe Schmidt’s Australia squad.

(Getty Images)

The 35-year-old replaces Tane Edmed, who has been demoted to the bench after a shaky debut as Wallabies’ 10 in the 28-26 defeat by Argentina in Sydney.

Meanwhile, James Slipper will become the first Wallaby to play 150 Tests.

Fifteen years after his 2010 debut against England, 36-year-old loosehead prop Slipper becomes the third player to reach the 150-cap milestone following locks Alun Wyn Jones of Wales and New Zealand’s Sam Whitelock.

Tate McDermott will also celebrate a milestone with his 50th Test cap as starting scrumhalf at Eden Park.

ACT Brumbies’ number nine Ryan Lonergan will hope to make his debut off the bench following Nic White’s retirement.

Andrew Kellaway is ruled out with a calf strain, so Max Jorgensen shifts to fullback in the match-day squad named on Thursday, paving the way for Harry Potter to start on the right wing.

34m agoSat 27 Sep 2025 at 4:07amWhat time is kick off in the Bledisloe?

Kick off in Auckland is scheduled for 5:05pm NZST.

For us over here on this side of the ditch, that translates to:

Queensland, NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, ACT: 3.05pm AESTSouth Australia and Northern Territory: 2:35pm ACSTWestern Australia: 1:05pm AWST

39m agoSat 27 Sep 2025 at 4:02am

Bledisloe time(Getty Images)

Hello everyone and welcome to the ABC Sport coverage of the first Bledisloe Cup tie of the season.

My name is Simon Smale and I am sure I’m not the only one who will be glued to my screen this afternoon as the All Blacks and the Wallabies lock horns in a contest that is eagerly anticipated on both sides of the Tasman.

The All Blacks are wounded. Coming off the back of a record defeat to the world champion Springboks a fortnight ago and with coach Scott Robertson under enormous pressure to sate the questions of a frustrated public.

But did that crushing Boks defeat break the All Blacks? Or are they steeled to create havoc against a Wallabies team that has impressed many this Rugby Championship.

We’ll find out, so if you’re team’s not in action in Melbourne tonight or you’re a die hard rugby supporter, then thanks for being with me and welcome to the show.