17 Aug 2018

Bledisloe Cup: A better build up than last year

4:06 pm on 17 August 2018

Opinion - It's been a pretty relaxed build up to the Bledisloe Cup this week in Sydney, but compared to last year, anything would be.

Liam Squire on the charge during last year's Bledisloe Cup third test

Liam Squire on the charge during last year's Bledisloe Cup third test Photo: Photosport

Cast your mind back 12 months. The atmosphere at team press conferences was thick with tension as the All Blacks dealt with three rather large distractions on test week.

Jerome Kaino had returned home to urgently deal with the fact that the Australian press had broken a seedy story about a extra-marital relationship. Aaron Smith then poured some petrol on that particular fire by having some hilariously misspelled texts leak out regarding his less-than-glamorous romantic habits as well. Then, to top it all off, a Sydney security guard was being tried in court for allegedly bugging the All Blacks' hotel the year before.

On top of all that, there was the matter of the Wallabies being rather confident of victory. Michael Hooper and Michael Cheika both downplayed the problems the All Blacks were dealing with, but you didn't need to be a mind reader to know that they were probably doing cartwheels down the hall as soon as the cameras stopped rolling. Adding to things, the All Blacks were coming off a drawn series against the British & Irish Lions, one which they were predicted to win with their eyes closed.

However after 40 minutes, it was brutally obvious that you should never count your chickens before they hatch when it comes to the Bledisloe Cup. The All Blacks laid on an incredible first half to lead 40-6, and while the Wallabies rallied to score 34 points eventually, the damage had well and truly been done.

Now the distractions are of a different nature.

Sam Whitelock will stride out for his 100th test, having only lost eight of the 99 others he's played. No matter what the result is on Saturday night, he will hold the record for the most wins in achieving that milestone. Most of the talk has been around the big man this week, but his presence at the press conferences has been as calm and professional as always. You get the feeling that he doesn't really care if anyone was making a fuss about it or not.

One slight surprise as the team was named did come in the midfield, where Jack Goodhue got the nod over Anton Lienert-Brown. Goodhue has forged a formidable combination with Ryan Crotty in the Crusaders' stellar title run this year, so it is entirely justified even if Lienert-Brown hasn't really put a foot wrong while wearing an All Black jersey so far in his career.

It will be interesting to see just who comes out on top in his battle with the highly rated Reece Hodge, though. The Melbourne Rebels' player has been shifted into the midfield alongside Kurtley Beale, which will have the Crusaders' duo on high alert given how well both played the last time these teams met.

That's another thing people should remember - the Wallabies won that game. Yes, it was a test that had nothing riding on it but the Aussies did produce a perfect blueprint of how to disrupt the All Blacks' high tempo game plan.

It didn't win them the Bledisloe, but it was still a win. This Saturday they'll again be feeling confident, although once again they'll struggle to match the experience of the All Black tight five. If they can overcome that and get the ball out wide, it will get interesting. But, nonetheless, the general feeling is that the All Blacks should win this running away.

And then they'll have one hand on the Bledisloe Cup, yet again. Actually losing the big trophy is something that the likes of Jack Goodhue probably aren't even old enough to remember.