Bledisloe Cup: First-up win vital for Wallabies against All Blacks

It is Sydney or bust for the Wallabies when they play the All Blacks in the opening Bledisloe Cup Test.

Wallabies flanker Michael Hooper: ‘It’s not all or nothing this weekend, but it goes a long way to setting us up nicely.’

It is Sydney or bust for the Wallabies when they play the All Blacks in the opening Bledisloe Cup Test at ANZ Stadium in the harbour city on Saturday night.

The importance of the Wallabies drawing first blood in the three-Test series is underlined by the fact the last two games are in Wellington and Auckland — and Australia have not won in New Zealand since 2001.

If the Wallabies lose in Sydney, they will have to win twice in New Zealand to regain the Bledisloe Cup, which they have not held since 2002.

The Wallabies have won only six of 36 Tests against the All Blacks since they last held the Bledisloe Cup, and three of those wins were in Sydney.

While Wallabies openside flanker Michael Hooper is confident they could win away, he admitted it would be more difficult.

“I think we can win anywhere in the world, but when you’ve got to travel there’s all those little minor things that make it harder to win than at home,” Hooper said.

“We’re lucky that we get the first Test at home each year and get to roll into it full of steam with the crowd behind us.

“It’s not all or nothing this weekend, but it goes a long way to setting us up nicely.”

No one in the Wallabies squad has ever held the Bledisloe Cup aloft. Australia’s most senior player, Matt Giteau, made his Test debut against England in November of 2002, a few months after it was last in Australia’s possession.

Regaining the Bledisloe Cup has become a mission for the Wallabies, although so far a seemingly impossible one.

“In the short term it would pay off the hard work,” Hooper said. “It would be fantastic to get a hold of this trophy and seeing it up there (at the Wallabies’ fan day at Coogee Oval) it’s something that none of us has held.

“And then for the public, we want the public and our fans to be proud of us and the way we’re playing.

“We grew that last year and you want to give back to the fans when they turn up to days like this, they turn up at stadiums and you want to give something back.

“To see Moorey (Wallabies captain Stephen Moore) holding that cup in the air would be very nice, not just for us. It’s for the fans and we’ll do everything we can to make that happen.”

The last time the Wallabies played the All Blacks they lost in the final of last year’s World Cup at Twickenham, but Hooper is looking forward, not back.

“It sucks. I haven’t watched the game still and things like that,” Hooper said.

“It’s a new year and the opportunities ahead massively outweigh looking back in the past.

“As a rugby player you’ve got to look forward because backwards is done. So what’s ahead is way more exciting than what’s been.”

Many of the Wallabies will not have played for more than a month because the Brumbies were the only Australian team to reach the Super Rugby playoffs, while the All Blacks are match hardened, several of them playing for the Hurricanes in the final just over a week ago.

“I was sitting with a couple of the boys and was just like geez we haven’t played rugby in ages,” Hooper said.

“We’ve been training hard. Cheik’s (coach Michael Cheika) been working us up and down hills.

“We’ve been running around bashing each other a little bit so we’ll be in good stead physically.

“It’s the middle of the season. We’ve done more fitness on top of that. We just want to play.”