Wallabies must smash and grab at Eden Park

The lessons the current Wallabies can learn from the historic victory at Eden Park in 1986.

The Greek philosopher, Aristotle, coined the phrase, “One swallow does not a summer make …”

He was making the point that one instance of an event does not necessarily indicate a trend.

Nonetheless, congratulations are due to the Wallabies for making Michael Hooper’s 100th cap a Test match to remember; but we must keep our feet on the ground.

Remember, the last time the Wallabies drew with the All Blacks was in 2014 in Sydney, 12-all. A week later, at Eden Park, we were smashed 51-20.

Make no mistake, the All Blacks will react to the result from last Sunday as if it were a loss.

Already, there has been talk in New Zealand that the All Black pack has a soft underbelly. These are proud players, so there will be a reaction and they will turn up with plenty of intensity.

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For the Wallabies, that can be a positive. It means we have them flustered. It’s exactly what we set out to do last weekend. Now it’s time for us to lift and prepare to take the All Blacks down on their most favourite patch of grass in the world, Eden Park.

We have the talent to do it. Putting the first Bledisloe Cup performance into perspective, we need to acknowledge there is plenty of room for improvement.

The lineout struggled; we were squeezed for penalties in the scrum and drive, often at crucial times. New Wallaby coach Dave Rennie pointed out that we were outgunned in the ruck.

That was to be expected, given the All Blacks selected two “fetchers” in Ardie Savea and Sam Cane, while we went in with only one, Hooper.

Wallabies skipper Michael Hooper led his side to a 16-16 draw with the All Blacks in his 100th Test Picture: Getty Images

If we are to win at Eden Park, we will need to be much better at the ruck. It may mean getting another Hooper on the paddock.

Make no mistake, the ruck will resemble a battleground on Sunday. It’s where, I believe, the game will be won or lost.

While the set piece and ruck are areas that need attention, it was pleasing to see the Wallabies looking so dangerous on the wings, with the two Fijian flyers scoring tries.

Marika Koroibete and Filipo Daugunu are wonderful strike players. We need to ensure they get plenty of ball in space on Sunday by sensibly and responsibly playing the width.

That said, we can expect the All Blacks to upgrade their wingers this week with Caleb Clarke a certain starter. I’m surprised Clarke didn’t start in game one. Clearly the new All Blacks coach is uncomfortable.

Expectation is high in New Zealand and, make no mistake, Ian Foster is under the pump after only one game as coach.

History might have some pointers for our boys. As you know, in 1986, my Wallaby team played a three-Test Bledisloe Cup series in New Zealand.

We won the first Test in Wellington, 13-12 and we were “robbed” by a referee error in the second Test in Dunedin.

I say that, given that many years later, the referee from the Dunedin Test, Derek Bevan, acknowledged he had made a mistake in not awarding the Steve Tuynman try. By that stage, of course, it was water under the rugby bridge.

But we had to go to Eden Park, in Auckland, to face the All Blacks in the decider.

The All Blacks, when you look back on it, put an extraordinary side on the field.

They had Jock Hobbs and Mark “Cowboy” Shaw in the backrow. The great Sean Fitzpatrick was merely a reserve. The coach was the late Brian Lochore.

But I digress, through sentiment. I decided to pick Simon Poidevin and Jeff Miller to ensure we had parity at the ruck.

They picked Frano Botica at No 10, instead of Grant Fox.

Botica was picked to ensure the All Blacks ran the ball and got the legendary John Kirwan involved as much as possible.

Fortunately for us, Andrew Leeds, our debutant fullback, scored the first try after some Brett Papworth razzle dazzle and, indeed, after we had won an All Black lineout via the remarkable gifts of “Skylab”, aka Steve Cutler.

As we anticipated, the All Blacks threw everything at us.

At one stage we were defending our line and Topo Rodriguez smashed Hika Reid back, what felt like five metres, but psychologically was worth 50. From that moment on, I knew we had them.

We were taking territory from them, albeit in incremental stages — at the scrum, at the lineout, at the ruck and, most importantly, across the paddock.

We capped off a brilliant win with the mercurial David Campese, the veritable Bradman of rugby, zigzagging his way to the try line and the Test match was ours, 22-9.

The All Blacks had picked a team to run us off our feet. I sensed that would happen and it was imperative we shut them down early.

We shut them down for 80 minutes.

If there is a lesson for the current Wallabies from that 1986 series win, it’s a simple one — to beat the All Blacks at Eden Park, you must have belief.

As we prepared for our decider in 1986, I shared with my players a poem by Walter D. Wintle, from the early 20th century. It’s simply called, Thinking.

“If you think you are beaten, you are;

If you think you dare not, you don’t;

If you would like to win, but think you can’t,

it’s almost certain you won’t.

If you think you will lose, you have lost;

For out in this world we find;

success begins with a person’s will;

it’s all a state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are;

You have to think high to rise.

You have to be sure of yourself

before you can ever win a prize.

Life’s battles don’t always go

to the stronger or faster man;

But sooner or later the person who wins

is the one who thinks he can.”

Good luck to the 2020 Wallabies. It’s time to rewrite history and demolish the Eden Park hoodoo.

Thirty-four years is too long.