Update: 8:00 pm – The test itself will be an opportunity for the All Blacks to redeem themselves after a couple of below-par performances against the Lions.
Soon after the final whistle sounded on the 15-15 draw at Eden Park, many of the All Blacks were talking about preparing for their next challenge – the clash against the Wallabies across the ditch on August 19.
As a preparation for a Bledisloe Cup and Rugby Championship series, there can’t be many better than a Lions tour.
The All Blacks were challenged all over the park in three tests, are battle hardened, and have blooded several new talents in Rieko Ioane, Ngani Laumape and Jordie Barrett. They will be determined to create and finish many more opportunities than they did against the Lions.
The Wallabies, by contrast, beat Fiji and Italy and suffered the indignation of losing to Scotland in their June series. Added to that, the Force and Rebels Super Rugby franchises face an extremely uncertain future, the players from those clubs in an almost constant state of limbo.
There is also the not insignificant matter of the Spygate controversy to consider, a scandal that blew up in the faces of both camps, plus that of World Rugby’s, the last time the All Blacks were in Sydney.
All Blacks security consultant Adrian Gard, an Australian who had been involved with the team for 12 years, pleaded not guilty in court earlier this year after a listening device was found in the All Blacks’ team room last August.
The case is pending and is likely to cast a dark shadow over the week, and following the treatment at the hands of the New Zealand media that Wallabies coach Michael Cheika received last year, the Aussie press spotlight on Hansen and his team is likely to be intense.
Hansen will have questions to consider in the interim, including why the ball skills of many of his players failed under the heat applied by the Lions’ defence when that is normally a strength of the All Blacks, Beauden Barrett’s goalkicking – and we learned the day after the Eden Park draw that the No10 is working through a “technical” issue – and the make-up of his best midfield.
Malakai Fekitoa is almost certainly out of the picture after apparently signing with Toulon in France, but Laumape proved he has a big future with his performance in his first test start, and then there is Sonny Bill Williams, Ryan Crotty and Anton Lienert-Brown to consider.
Jordie Barrett will have forced himself closer to the match-day 23 with his recent performance, too, even when Ben Smith is fit. Barrett, 20, who can cover anywhere from second-five out to wing, looks to be an ideal man to have on the reserves bench for even the biggest test.
As brilliant as the Lions series was, Bledisloe 1 is an occasion to look forward to as well for supporters and everyone connected with the All Blacks. The Wallabies, remember, haven’t held the cup since 2002.
“We’ve got to take it on the nose and move forward,” All Blacks hooker Codie Taylor said in the Eden Park aftermath. “We’ve got a tough Bledisloe coming up so that’s our focus now.”
-NZ Herald / NewstalkZB
