Preview: New Zealand v Australia

RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND TWO: It’s not just the All Blacks that Australia faces on Saturday, but also the Eden Park curse – which has denied visiting teams a taste of victory for 24 years.

The arena, a suburban rugby venue since 1913, has been the burial ground for many a team with the All Blacks on a 41-match unbeaten streak since being beaten there by France in 1994.

Overall, they have only lost 10 of 84 Tests at the field they call their “home ground”.

Australia, who haven’t won anywhere in New Zealand since a win in Dunedin in 2001, last tasted victory at Eden Park 32 years ago with a 22-9 result in 1986.

They have lost 17 Tests to New Zealand in Auckland since then.

Overall, the All Blacks and Wallabies have played 162 times, with New Zealand winning 112 and drawing seven for a 69.14 percent win rate.

In New Zealand, the win rate is up to 78.05 percent, with the All Blacks coming out on top in 64 of 82 Tests and drawing one.

At Eden Park, the All Blacks are even more dominant over the Wallabies with an 85.19 percent success rate, having won 23 of 27 Tests.

But the Wallabies are adamant their thoughts are totally on winning the Bledisloe Cup and the All Blacks’ impressive record in Auckland has had no bearing on their preparation.

“No win this week, no Bledisloe Cup,” coach Michael Cheika said.

“Players and coaches, we’ve all thought about how we can get the best possible outcome this week, we’ve prepared that way and we’ll be ready when the whistle goes.”

The All Blacks also rate winning the Bledisloe as more important than maintaining their unbeaten run at Eden Park, although they cannot do one without the other.

“This is Bledisloe 2 and is a chance for us to get both hands on the cup and we love playing here,” captain Kieran Read said.

“It’s our home in New Zealand and our home fans and we just enjoy it.”

Players to watch:

For New Zealand: You can start at fullback where Jordie Barrett makes a comeback. In backline with luminaries like Ben Smith, Waisake Naholo, Beauden Barrett and Aaron Smith, midfielder Ngani Laumape may just steal the limelight. It is much the same with the star-studded back of world-class forwards – Kieran Read, Sam Cane, Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick, to name but a few.

For Australia: The Wallaby backline functions around the No.9, No.10 and No.12 axis – Will Genia, Bernard Foley and Kurtley Beale. Loose forwards David Pocock and Michael Hooper are crucial to their cause, but it is the tight forwards that must lay the platform.

Head to head: It is when you compare the teams player by player, position by position, that you realise why the All Blacks are so much better. To substantiate the argument, look at these examples: Jordie Barrett (New Zealand) versus Dane Haylett-Petty (Australia) at fullback; Beauden Barrett (New Zealand) versus Bernard Foley (Australia) at flyhalf; Kieran Read (New Zealand) versus David Pocock (Australia) at No.8; Sam Whitelock and Brodie Retallick (New Zealand) versus Adam Coleman and Izack Rodda (Australia) in the second row. In only one of those contests can you make a strong argument for the Wallaby.

Prediction: The All Blacks have won 10 of their last 12 games against the Wallabies in The Rugby Championship, including their last five on the bounce. New Zealand has won their last 17 games on the bounce against Australia at Eden Park, including their last four by an average margin of 27 points per game. The All Blacks are undefeated in their last 41 Tests at Eden Park; their last defeat at the venue came in July 1994 against France. New Zealand has won their last 13 games on the bounce in The Rugby Championship; their 81 all-time wins in the competition are nearly twice as many as any other nation (Australia 44, South Africa 43). The Wallabies haven’t defeated the All Blacks in New Zealand since picking up a 23-15 victory against them in August 2001, losing 21 games on the bounce against them there since. Australia has now lost their last three games on the bounce; the last time they went longer without a victory was a six-game losing streak from 2015 to 2016 which included three losses to New Zealand. The Wallabies have lost each of their last two games without Israel Folau in the squad; only New Zealand’s Rieko Ioane (15) has scored more Test tries since the beginning of 2017 than the injured Israel Folau who has crossed 12 times, twice as many as any other Australia player. Owen Franks is set to become the second All Blacks’ forward in as many weeks to play his 100th Test for New Zealand; the Kiwi prop has played more games than any other player in Test history to have not scored a try (James Slipper 86, Salvatore Perugini 83). Kieran Read has scored six Test tries at Eden Park, more than any other forward at that level and twice as many as he has scored at any other venue in Tests. Yes, of course, Australia can win, but don’t bet your house on it. New Zealand should win by at least 15 points.

Teams:

New Zealand: 15 Jordie Barrett, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Jack Goodhue, 12 Ngani Laumape, 11 Waisake Naholo, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (captain), 7 Sam Cane, 6 Liam Squire, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Joe Moody.
Replacements: 16 Nathan Harris, 17 Karl Tu’inukuafe, 18 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 19 Scott Barrett, 20 Ardie Savea, 21 Thomas Perenara, 22 Damian McKenzie, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown.

Australia: 15 Dane Haylett-Petty, 14 Jack Maddocks, 13 Reece Hodge, 12 Kurtley Beale, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 Will Genia, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper (captain), 6 Lukhan Tui, 5 Adam Coleman, 4 Izack Rodda, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 1 Scott Sio.
Replacements: 16 Folau Fainga’a, 17 Tom Robertson, 18 Sekope Kepu, 19 Rob Simmons, 20 Pete Samu, 21 Nick Phipps, 22 Matt Toomua, 23 Tom Banks.

Date: Saturday, August 25
Venue: Eden Park, Auckland
Kick-off: 19.35 (17.35 AEST; 07.35 GMT)
Expected weather: Partly sunny and breezy High of 15°C and low of 10°C
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Assistant referees: Jaco Peyper (South Africa), Luke Pearce (England)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)

@rugby365com & AFP

* Stats provided by Opta Sport