Kiwis’ Bledisloe snub is a reminder of some hard truths for the Wallabies

The idea of a Bledisloe Test on Anzac Day is a reasonable one, but the jury is still out on the merits of a three-Test Bledisloe series.

That’s the paradox that underpins New Zealand Rugby’s decision to pour cold water on Rugby Australia’s plan to stage an annual Anzac Day fixture between the two nations.

There are also rumblings that the relationship between RA and NZR isn’t that smooth. It would probably be best described as being in rehab after it hit rock bottom during the period when both organisations had different chairs.

That might be a story for a different day.

But the lack of enthusiasm in New Zealand for an idea that was initially recognised as having some merit is a reflection on the past two decades-plus of Bledisloe results.

There is no populist movement in New Zealand for a third Bledisloe Test to be reinstated, as would occur if the Anzac Day Test became a regular part of the calendar before the two trans-Tasman Tests in the Rugby Championship. There are no punters banging on the door at NZ Rugby urging them not to be so idiotic.

It seems the New Zealand is happy with the current Bledisloe Cup schedule.Credit: Getty Images

When the Wallabies played back-to-back Tests at Eden Park in 2021, there were about 20,000 empty seats for the second Test. That reflected that the Test had to be shifted at short notice from Wellington, but it also spoke to how New Zealanders’ appetite for Bledisloe Tests has a limit.

Three- and four-Test series have been tried before. This was the format used between 2006 and 2021 - save for Rugby World Cup years - and the lack of Wallabies success during that period has almost certainly shaped New Zealanders’ view of the rivalry.

Not one three-Test series in that period even went to a decider. The only Tests with real jeopardy came in the Rugby World Cup years of 2007, 2015 and 2019, when the Wallabies won the first Test of a two-game series and had to travel to New Zealand the following week.

There is a feeling in New Zealand, therefore, that two Tests are currently enough, and even the merit (and novelty) of an Anzac Day Test in Perth next year isn’t enough to make a large structural change to the long-term calendar, particularly as there would be disruption to a Super Rugby Pacific competition.

All Blacks captain Scott Barrett holds the Bledisloe Cup aloft in Sydney last September.Credit: Getty Images

That position isn’t immutable, but clearly the Wallabies have to start winning again. In terms of rugby diplomacy and influence, the performance of the men’s national team is the ultimate blunt-force instrument of coercion.

Take the Springboks for example, as they prepare to host the All Blacks for an old-school three-Test tour next year with midweek fixtures against their United Rugby Championship sides.

Such an idea would have been laughable as recently as 2017 when the All Blacks beat the Springboks 57-0 at North Harbour. At that stage, the obituary writers were knocking on the door of South African rugby, but look at the South Africans now.

Success has a way of opening doors and while it might be crude to distil this argument down to one point, beating the Kiwis in Super Rugby and beating the All Blacks in the current Bledisloe format would be a pretty good way of getting NZ Rugby back to the negotiating table.

I still like the Anzac Day Test concept, notwithstanding that there are some real challenges with having international rugby during the Super Rugby competition as a rule (take a look at the URC, for example, where Leinster are currently in South Africa with a B team because they are resting their Irish internationals after the Six Nations).

It could catch on, and it’s hard not to be sympathetic to Rugby Australia’s desire for big events in a ferociously competitive domestic market. But it would be far easier to sell to New Zealand if they truly took the Wallabies seriously again.

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