Australia v New Zealand - Teams and Prediction
RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP, ROUND FIVE: The All Blacks are driven by the fear of being the first team to relinquish the Bledisloe Cup since Australia's last win in 2002 ahead of the first Test in Sydney on Saturday.
The hosts sense a 'massive opportunity' to break the drought and bring the Bledisloe Cup back to Australia for the first time in 22 years ahead of their clash with New Zealand who comes off back-to-back defeats.
New Zealand captain Scott Barrett states that his class of 2024 are desperate to not be the ones who relinquish the beloved trophy to Australia.
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"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."
Barrett said that despite not speaking to former players, including Scott Robertson who formed part of the era between 1998 and 2003 to not win the trophy - the dark chapter in All Blacks history was 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."
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The Bledisloe Cup means so much that it's been up for display in the All Blacks' team room all week in the lead-up to the Test at Stadium Australia.
"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 New Zealand losing at home to Argentina before getting revenge a week later against the Pumas and then going down two weeks in a row against the Springboks in South Africa - the All Blacks have made their worst start in the history of the Rugby Championship.
The Wallabies also just recorded a solitary win in four Tests, suffering two losses to South Africa and beating Argentina before the Pumas turned the tables a week later and handed the Wallabies a record 67-27 defeat.
Wallabies captain Harry Wilson insists that his troops are not suffering scars from 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 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 defeat the All Blacks for the first time since 2015 to keep their hopes alive for the Bledisloe Cup before heading to Wellington for the return fixture a week later.
Nothing less than two victories over the All Blacks will secure the Bledisloe Cup for Australia.
Previous Wallaby coaches Eddie Jones (2004), John Connolly (2007), Robbie Deans (2011) and Micheal Cheika (2015 and 2019) have all come as close as a drawn series but no cigar.
Players to watch:
For Australia: Marika Koroibete and Rob Valetini have been the standout players in a struggling Wallabies outfit and will be key figures in their respective positions to get their side over the line. Koroibete has been outstanding since his return to the side earlier this season and the likes of Hunter Paisami and Len Ikitau will be responsible for putting the wing into space where he is devastating. Rob Valetini's ability to dominate in both the tight and loose will provide the Wallabies with go-forward momentum in contact as well as with ball in hand should they go the expansive route against the All Blacks. Off the bench, the experience of veteran James Slipper, Allan Alaalatoa and Tate McDermott could help the Wallabies close out the match when coming on.
For New Zealand: Beauden Barrett comes back into the starting line-up after playing off the bench in Cape Town with Caleb Clarke making a return from a back injury he sustained in the first Test against South Africa at Ellis Park where he was outstanding. Cortez Ratima takes over the No.9 jersey from veteran TJ Perenara after a solid outing off the bench in Cape Town with Wallace Sititi also getting a start following his impressive performance over the world champions two weeks ago. Anton Leinert-Brown and Sevu Reece will provide a lot of speed and firepower off the bench should things open up during the match.
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Prediction:
@rugby365com: New Zealand by 15 points
Teams:
Australia: 15 Tom Wright, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Nic White, 8 Harry Wilson (captain), 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Jeremy Williams, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Matt Faessler, 1 Angus Bell.
Replacements: 16 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 17 James Slipper, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 20 Langi Gleeson, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Tom Lynagh, 23 Dylan Pietsch.
New Zealand: 15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Cortez Ratima, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Wallace Sititi, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Scott Barrett (captain), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot.
Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Tamaiti Williams, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Sam Darry, 20 Luke Jacobson, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Sevu Reece.
Date: Saturday, September 21
Venue: Stadium Australia, Sydney
Kick-off: 15.55 (17.55 NZST; 05.55 GMT )
Referee: Karl Dickson (England)
Assistant referees: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia), Damian Schneider (Argentina)
TMO: Stuart Terheege (England)
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