Friday 7 August 2015 18:09, UK
Sky Sports' Sean Fitzpatrick looks back on his Bledisloe Cup memories ahead of the All Blacks' trip to Sydney.
The Wallabies play New Zealand on Saturday in what is a shortened Rugby Championship series thanks to the World Cup later in the year.
That means the rival nations play each other just once in the competition, but the Bledisloe Cup series continues a week later with the All Blacks hosting Australia in a friendly in Auckland as part of their World Cup preparations.
With the All Blacks current cup holders, a drawn series would be enough for Steve Hansen’s men to hang onto the 2015 bragging rights, and according to former All Black hooker Sean Fitzpatrick, you only need to look at the team that will take to the ANZ Stadium on Saturday to see what the series means to New Zealand.
"It’s a very important trophy to the All Blacks, that’s why they’ve picked such a strong side," said Fitzpatrick.
"With the World Cup around the corner there would have been temptation to give more exposure to some of the younger guys, but when it comes to the Bledisloe Cup the coaches are less likely to take chances."
I scored two tries in that game, which made it a special occasion for me, but more importantly we won the Bledisloe Cup back by beating them.
The significance of the All Blacks’ encounters against their trans-Tasman rivals was realised from a young age for Fitzpatrick, but the former hooker did not enjoy a good start of his own to the Bledisloe rivalry.
"Before my playing days I can remember the Wallabies' Greg Cornelsen scoring four tries against us in Eden Park in 1978, which for me was the turning point in terms of how close the Bledisloe Cup would later become.
"I then captained a New Zealand Under-21 (side) against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground some years later, and we played the curtain raiser to the Bledisloe Cup match.
"We watched from the sidelines as the All Blacks got beaten at the SCG.
"I can still remember the Wallaby team carrying the trophy around the stadium after the game. It was a big deal because it was the first time they'd won it for a number of years.
"That activated my passion for the Bledisloe Cup."
The Australians improved after that victory, and went on to become a force in world rugby, losing only one Test in 13 between the end of 1984 and the time they arrived on New Zealand shores for Bledisloe 1986.
"I started playing in 1986, and my first Bledisloe Cup match was actually my second ever Test for the All Blacks,” said Fitzpatrick.
"We lost that game to a David Campese try - we lost the series in fact.
"I got dropped for the last two Tests of the series and sat on the bench watching us lose."
A difficult start to international rugby and a disastrous start to the Bledisloe Cup series, Fitzpatrick would get his chance for revenge a little over a year later, with a World Cup win preceding it.
"In 1987 we won the World Cup by beating France in the final. The French had beaten the Wallabies in the semi-final and we ended up playing Australia two weeks after the final.
"There was a feeling among us that we needed to beat Australia in the Bledisloe to be considered true champions.”
Fortunately for the former captain, his side did just that.
"We played them at the Concord Oval, with a capacity of just under 20,000 people.
"I scored two tries in that game, which made it a special occasion for me, but more importantly we won the Bledisloe Cup back by beating them."
Fitzpatrick went on to play against Australia a total of 24 times, amassing 16 wins, seven losses and one draw.
The cup changed hands several times over the 92-cap veteran’s career, but when he retired in 1997 he did so with the trophy safely on New Zealand soil.
Thereafter the Wallabies claimed the series for five consecutive years before a hat-trick from Joe Rokocoko reduced Australia to a shock 50-21 loss in Sydney, after which the All Blacks won 21-17 in Auckland in August 2003.
Later that year the Wallabies gained revenge by knocking the All Blacks out of the World Cup at the semi-final stage, but the Australians have been unable to reclaim the Bledisloe, and they now face the difficult prospect of needing to beat the No 1 side in the world in consecutive weekends in order to do so.
Is Michael Cheika’s 2015 team capable of taking down the All Blacks?
Watch the Wallabies take on the All Blacks in the Rugby Championship decider, live on Sky Sports 3 from 10.30am on Saturday.
