Nobody knows better than Michael Cheika that beating the All Blacks in New Zealand is international rugby’s Mount Everest. (Click to Tweet)
It’s been 30 years and 17 Tests since the Wallabies have beaten the All Blacks at Eden Park, with 15 years and 19 Tests since the Wallabies have beaten the men-in-black anywhere in New Zealand – Carisbrooke in 2001 was the last success.
It’s been a long time between drinks.
Never one to take a backward step with Eden Park looming on Saturday, yesterday Cheika said – “It’s obviously proven to be a tough place to go and play, but I’m old fashioned.
“I look forward to it, bring it on, it’s a great opportunity”.
Cheeky bugger.
He won’t have half-back Will Genia who has to return to his commitments with Stade Francais, so Cheika must rely on Nick Phipps to fill the loss.
Under normal circumstances that would be acceptable, but this year Phipps has been even more aggravating, chipping referees and frantically directing Wallaby backline traffic with the ball at his feet.
That’s bad enough, but to magnify his inept rugby with slow inaccurate passes means Phipps will be a liability unless he dramatically changes his behaviour pattern.
Besides, the current Wallabies aren’t the quality of the Alan Jones-coached 1986 Wallabies that won the Bledisloe Cup with a 22-9 victory at Eden Park, or the 2001 Eddie Jones-coached Wallabies beating the All Blacks 23-15 at the House of Pain at Carisbrooke for the first time before going on to win the Tri-Nations.
Let’s revisit those two historic clashes:
All Blacks – Wallabies, Eden Park 1986.
1 – Steve McDowell – Topo Rodriques
2 – Hika Reid – Tom Lawton
3 – Gary Knight – Mark Harthill
4 – Gary Whetton – Steve Cutler
5 – Murray Pierce – Bill Campbell
6 – Mark Shaw – Jeff Miller
7 – Jock Hobbs – Simon Poidevin
8 – Mike Brewer – Steve Tuynman
9 – David Kirk (c) – Nick Farr-Jones
10 – Frano Botica – Michael Lynagh
11 – Craig Green – Matthew Burke
12 – Arthur Stone – Brett Papworth
13 – Joe Stanley – Andrew Slack (c)
14 – John Kirwan – David Campese
15 – Kieran Crowley – Andrew Leeds
All Blacks – Wallabies, Carisbrooke 2001.
1 – Carl Hoeft – Nick Stiles
2 – Anton Oliver (c) – Michael Foley
3 – Gary Sommerville – Rod Moore
4 – Norm Maxwell – Justin Harrison
5 – Troy Flavell – John Eales (c)
6 – Reuben Thorne – Owen Finegan
7 – Taine Randall – George Smith
8 – Ron Cribb – Toutai Kefu
9 – Justin Marshall – George Gregan
10 – Tony Brown – Stephen Larkham
11 – Jonah Lomu – Joe Roff
12 – Pita Alatini – Nathan Grey
13 – Tana Umaga – Dan Herbert
14 – Doug Howlett – Andrew Walker
15 – Jeff Wilson – Matt Burke
It would be great for Australian rugby to break those two hoodoos this weekend, but the realism is not on.
Not unless you are a cheeky bugger.
Marto
Guest
Why do you want to know ??
Marto
Guest
Taylorman Rugged type ?? Foley ?? hahahaha, if you define running into blokes and getting smashed everytime, yeah that's rugged, but him doing that has done absolutely nothing for the Wallabies attack .. Taylorman!! Go play Checkers, whilst the rest of us play Chess !!..
Muzzo
Roar Rookie
Hardly Wozza, as Jonah in his prime, was awesome. The bloke could run a 100 m's, in 10.something. And if it came to a one on one, I know who I'd be backing. It was only after he was diagnosed with his condition, that he slowed down a bit, but could still beat opponents, in a one on one situation. To say he was a liability, is not quite true, otherwise, he wouldn't have been there.
Geoff
Guest
Well, he is tha last coach to have beaten the ABs
Wannabe wallaby
Guest
Stole fekitoas boot and threw it into the crowd like a petulant child.
Bring Back...?
Guest
One of the most complete rugby players in the back 3. All the skills.
Zack
Roar Rookie
Won't forget Gatland's blatant cheat grabbing the ball out of the hands of our 9 into the scrum which ultimately made the difference. Auckland's record number of defences will never be broken.
ClarkeG
Guest
A liability most teams would be happy to take on.
PeterK
Roar Guru
No way. Roff avoided contact, was not that quick. Also a turnstile of a tackler. One of the most over rated Wallabies. Lomu a lot better.
Shane D
Roar Rookie
& the bloke you were selecting against would say thank you very much.
Shane D
Roar Rookie
Flavell was the classic white line fever bloke. Couldn't meet a nicer guy off the field but played like he had just got out of jail.
Internal Fixation
Guest
Around 1 in 100 off the top of my head? Similar to the Wallavies chances :)
Internal Fixation
Guest
In ACL injuries successful reconstructions usually give back similar top end speed to pre-injury. The problem is, as you correctly say, is quick lateral movement that depends on knee proprioception. Genia has taken some time to adapt after his injury. Cooper the same. There is some great AFL data showing that less than 20% of players regain the same or better form post ACL injury and reconstructive surgery.
ClarkeG
Guest
Watson willing to pay half? I think more likely he would help bring together a group of investors to fund a portion of it.
Xiedazhou
Guest
The article by Cheika deciding where to put Foley at the end of the year is a disgrace. Its clear Cheika plays favourites with some of his ex Waratahs, and Bernard Foley is clearly one of the teacher's pets. Cheika deserves to perish because of his bias, however long suffering Wallabies fans don't deserve to sit through the disaster that will result if Cheika doesn't change his ways.
kelefua
Guest
Nothing cheeky about Cheika's remarks, hes just doing what any coach would & thats backing his team. I do hope hope Wallabies bring more than just niggle cause they definitely have the players to challenge ABs with some positive rugby. Kickoff cant come soon enough bring it!
ads2600
Guest
Well said Woodart. Eden park while historical is a terrible venue to watch any sport. From what I have read in the NZHerald, Eric Watson has approached (again) the NZRFU , NZ government & the Auckland council about a city foreshore stadium rectangle in shape (no cricket). If my memory serves me well, Watson was willing to pay "half" of the grand total. I haven't heard of an outcome as of yet.
Garth
Guest
He was always slow to turn in defense. The kidneys started to slow him down going forwards.
Garth
Guest
Benji didn't want to do that.
paleocortex
Guest
What's randwick?