All Blacks captain Sam Cane says his team’s flop in Perth last year won’t be haunting them when they front up for Saturday’s Bledisloe Cup clash in Sydney.
New Zealand’s last trip to Australia resulted in a shock 47-26 loss at Perth’s Optus Stadium in 2019.
The All Blacks lead the current four-match series 1-0, but wins for Australia in Sydney and Brisbane would see the Wallabies snare the Bledisloe Cup for the first time since 2002.
The All Blacks learned vital lessons from last year’s loss in Perth, with players and coaches later realising their preparation and mindset weren’t up to scratch.
(Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
But Cane said that result hadn’t been spoken about amongst the players this week, and wouldn’t be playing on their minds.
“It was well over a year ago now. We’re not spending energy focusing on that,” Cane said.
“It still hurts when you bring it up, but it hasn’t been spoken about.
“We’ve had two Tests in the last three weeks against the Wallabies, so we’ve taken lessons from each of those games.”
The Wallabies were brave in their 16-16 draw in the series opener in Wellington, but they were brought back to Earth in a 27-7 loss in Auckland.
Australia missed 40 tackles in that second match, and they know a repeat display in game three will cost them dearly.
Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has taken a huge gamble by naming debutants Noah Lolesio and Irae Simone as his starting 10-12 combination.
Lolesio replaces flyhalf James O’Connor (knee), while Simone fills the void left by Matt To’omua (groin).
It marks the first time since 1947 that the Wallabies will field a 10-12 combination without a single Test cap between them against the All Blacks.
Jeff Ashton
Roar Rookie
The coach could always consider QC or Giteau
Loosey
Roar Rookie
No. Let's just say interpretations have been tightened since then.
Micko
Roar Rookie
"lawless"? did you mean flawless?
soapit
Roar Guru
they all seem to have better things to do.
Paulo
Roar Rookie
Do you have four other better rugby sides? You should send them out instead.
Just Nuisance
Roar Rookie
That match Nigel Owen’s described as the greatest he ever refereed.. Rugby Nirvana was reached..
soapit
Roar Guru
thts ok, simone outside and pggies inside shouldnt be too much drama
soapit
Roar Guru
apparently daungunus a good kicker. never see it though
soapit
Roar Guru
will quite likely be 9 10 12 on debut to see the match out. DHP needs to step up tonight
soapit
Roar Guru
its not really a flop if our 5th best national side loses to nz
Tom
Guest
One teams been flopping it for 18 years. Don't think the 28 year interlude will get broken. but did enjoy Rennie's homeground effort
soapit
Roar Guru
floppers gonna flop
Fair comment about Simone's kicking...He just looks like he doesnt want to do the field kicking...Could just be his manner.... As an ABS coach I wouldnt get the guys to run at Simone unless they have isolated him or they see his outside man is out of possie but run at Lolesio all day long...
I was at that game Loosey and it felt like a 100 nil romp after 15 mins.....It all got a bit nerve wracking by half time and proved to be exceptional by the end of the match. Another game I watch a bit is the SA v NZ game in SA..( cant remember the year ).SA had to win with a bonus point to win the RC but the ABs were mighty in defence that day and scored whenever SA got close....great memories...
Tooly
Roar Rookie
Nothing in this beat up. The ABs played with 14 men for 50 minutes and when they settled down playing well. They will thrash us this match. It won’t be Lolisio’s fault . It will be Hooper, Hanigan, Wilson, McReight, Petaia, Pesami , Daugunu, DHP and Hodge.
jameswm
Roar Guru
And the Wallabies last game 27-7. They have pride too.
jameswm
Roar Guru
Simone definitely kicked In general play for the Brumbies. Storm runner. Needs to be a stronger defender, not that he’s bad. Harrison a marginally better defender than Lolesio I think. Actually Harrison is a tough defender for a 10.
Loosey
Roar Rookie
I’ve just re-watched the 2000 Sydney match dubbed the ‘game of the century’. Boy it was lawless back then. What a match. Hoping for similar today. If only we’d had our kicking boots on that day.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Agreed. It may be a risk if JOC and Toomua were fit and available. But they aren’t.
Busted Fullback
Roar Rookie
Not talking about it, but someone's thinking about it. And there are two teams learning from each game. AB's nervous in Sydney then a decider in Brisbane. And we know how much success the AB's have had in Brisbane.