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Bledisloe battle will decide RWC fate

Roar Guru
17th August, 2011
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Roar Guru
17th August, 2011
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2635 Reads

As astutley pointed out to me during the week, the much anticpated rematch between world rugby heavyweights New Zealand and Australia scheduled for 27 August 2011 in Brisbane is not a decider for the right to hold the Bledisloe Cup; that is a foregone conclusion.

However the Test potentially holds a much greater prize for the victor.

As I say this, I hear the sound of Zephyrs coming to a screaching halt; the scratching of a Dave Dobbyn and the Herbs LP slipping on the pin, and the collective thud of four millon cans of Tui, Speights or Lion Red dropping to the floor as a perplexed nation asks themselves, what could be a greater prize that whipping those loudmouth Aussies again?

Well bro, its the World Cup itself!

Thats right. The World Cup itself is up for play on 27 August. How so you might ask?

In the recent shambles in Auckland the All Blacks delivered a materclass display of rugby. I ask any rugger bugger to seriously consider whether the All Blacks could actually play a better 80 minutes of rugby against a top four team? I am not so sure.

The Wallabies conversly could and can play a lot better and in the recent win in Durban over 2007 world champions South Africa those signs were apparent.

As 19th Century battle ships would seek the ‘weather gauge’ prior to committing to open conflict on the high seas I can draw the comparison to the much-anticipated Brisbane Test.

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To have the ‘gauge’ is to have the wind in your favour. In the context of Brisbane this ‘gauge’ will be the psychology of victory itself, as this is the true key to World Cup success and what is being played for.

If the Wallabies rise to the occasion and defeat the All Blacks then forget Auckland, its game on.

A victory will re-affirm to Deans’ men that they can mix it with the best and give them that all important edge and confidence leading into the World Cup knowing they can win it.

Conversly if the All Black blitzkrieg rolls on and the Wallabies are convincingly beaten in Brisbane then I think the Wallabies will carry too many doubts into the campaign and will not even make the final.

They will stumble in the earlier rounds always knowning in the back of their minds that at the top of that mountain waiting for them will be McCaw and Co., just itching for the chance to give them another belting.

So good luck Ireland, best of British to England, Scotland and Wales, enjoy your stay South Africa and take your spies home with you France, becuase if the Wallabies do the business in Brisbane against the All Blacks you will be watching another World Cup slip you by and like the rest of us, watching the All Blacks and Wallabies duke it out for rugby supremacy come World Cup final time.

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