Bledis-woe for Australia

Thursday 24th July 2008 - www.planetrugby.com

As Australia and New Zealand prepare to lock horns once again in this weekend's much-anticipated Bledisloe Cup clash in Sydney, we take a look back and see where this very large silver cup came from and the healthy rivalry involved between these two rugby proud nations within the 78-year-old tournament.

The All Blacks will extend their current Bledisloe Cup tenure to second best in the tournament's history if they can win this year's giant four-match series against Australia.

The title holders are chasing a fifth successive defence, an achievement only bettered by the All Blacks side who owned the famous piece of trans-Tasman silverware from 1951 to 1978.

That mammoth tenure featured 11 defences.

They were also holders from 1936 to 1948 but only had to defend three times because of the intervention of World War Two.

Their current run began when an All Blacks team coached by John Mitchell and assistant Robbie Deans beat Australia 2-0 in 2003, ending a record Wallabies tenure which featured four successful defences.

As holders, the All Blacks need only win two of the matches to get New Zealand engraved for a 37th time compared to Australia's 12.

Donated in 1931 by the Governor-General of New Zealand, Lord Bledisloe, the Bledisloe Cup is the ultimate symbol of trans-Tasman rivalry and was first won by New Zealand with Australia taking home the honours for the first time in 1934.

Between 1931 and 1981 it was contested irregularly in the course of rugby tours between the two countries. New Zealand won it 19 times and Australia four times in this period including in 1949 when Australia won it for the first time on New Zealand soil.

The trophy itself was apparently 'lost' during this period and reportedly rediscovered in a Melbourne store room. In the years 1982 to 1995 it was contested annually, sometimes as a series of three matches and other times in a single match. During these years New Zealand won it 11 times and Australia three times.

The introduction of the Tri-Nations series in 1996 ensured at least two matches every year on a home and away basis.

The Wallabies regained the Bledisloe Cup in 1998 with a 3-0 series victory, and retained it again in 1999 with the series drawn 1-1. The 1999 Bledisloe Cup match in Sydney provided a world record rugby crowd of 107,046 at ANZ Stadium (formerly known as Stadium Australia).

In 2000, the Bledisloe was retained by Australia when John Eales kicked a penalty from the touchline in the final moments of the match.

Another one of the most dramatic matches was played in 2001 at ANZ Stadium, in what would be Eales' last ever Test for the Wallabies. The Australians were hoping to send their skipper off in grand style and a fairytale ending was on the cards when the Wallabies held a solid 19-6 lead over the All Blacks in the first half.

However, tries to Doug Howlett and Pita Alatini, along with Andrew Mehrtens' boot, saw the All Blacks back in front 26-22. But in the dying moments of the game, Wallaby number eight Toutai Kefu scored the winning try for Australia.

Australia went on to retain the Bledisloe Cup for the next three years until 2003 when a very classy All Blacks team won back the Cup in convincing fashion and in 2004, they only needed to win one game against Australia in 2004 to return it to New Zealand soil.

The Wallabies have not won it back since.

In 2007, the series reverted back to two games due to the Rugby World Cup. Australia won the first match 20-15, the All Blacks won the second, and as current holders of the Cup, retained the trophy yet again.

This year, Australia have four opportunities to bring the Bledisloe Cup back to Wallaby headquarters, starting on Saturday in Sydney and followed a week later in Auckland.

The third match is in Brisbane on September 13 while the fourth will provide the first neutral venue in the long history of Bledisloe Cup action, when the teams meet in Hong Kong on November 1.

Bledisloe Cup results: 1931-2008
(Series wins in brackets)
1931: New Zealand (1-0)
1932: New Zealand (2-1)
1934: Australia (1-0)
1936: New Zealand (2-0)
1938: New Zealand (3-0)
1946: New Zealand (2-0)
1947: New Zealand (2-0)
1949: Australia (2-0)
1951: New Zealand (3-0)
1952: New Zealand (1-1)
1955: New Zealand (2-1)
1957: New Zealand (2-0)
1958: New Zealand (2-1)
1962: New Zealand (4-0)
1964: New Zealand (2-1)
1967: New Zealand (1-0)
1968: New Zealand (2-0)
1972: New Zealand (3-0)
1974: New Zealand (2-0)
1978: New Zealand (2-1)
1979: Australia (1-0)
1980: Australia (2-1)
1982: New Zealand (2-1)
1983: New Zealand (1-0)
1984: New Zealand (2-1)
1985: New Zealand (1-0)
1986: Australia (2-1)
1987: New Zealand (1-0)
1988: New Zealand (2-0)
1989: New Zealand (1-0)
1990: New Zealand (2-1)
1991: New Zealand (1-1)
1992: Australia (2-1)
1993: New Zealand (1-0)
1994: Australia (1-0)
1995: New Zealand (2-0)
1996: New Zealand (2-0)
1997: New Zealand (3-0)
1998: Australia (3-0)
1999: Australia (1-1)
2000: Australia (1-1)
2001: Australia (2-0)
2002: Australia (1-1)
2003: New Zealand (2-0)
2004: New Zealand (1-1)
2005: New Zealand (2-0)
2006: New Zealand (3-0)
2007: New Zealand (1-1)