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Allan Alaalatoa’s message for Wallabies fans before Bledisloe Cup series
By Finn Morton
There’s something different about a Bledisloe Cup week. If you’re from Australia or New Zealand and consider yourself a rugby union fan, then you understand how deep this rivalry runs and why both teams will be desperate to get the job done on Saturday.
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From the Wallabies’ point of view, there’s that same narrative that has come up annually for the last 22 years: can they end their long-lasting Bledisloe Cup drought? The Wallabies are firm underdogs to do just that, but take confidence from the fact this team is building.
The Wallabies haven’t beaten the All Blacks since November 2020, with a young Noah Lolesio coming off the bench in that Test to help deliver a two-point win in Brisbane. But the rival teams have gone toe-to-toe seven times since, with the Kiwis winning all of them.
It’s true that this is a new era for the Wallabies, and they’re continuing to find their way under coach Joe Schmidt. They performed well in the July series, fell in two Tests to the world champion Springboks, and beat Argentina before it all went wrong in Santa Fe.
But this week is about the All Blacks. At a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, prop Allan Alaalatoa was asked to say something to Wallabies fans to give them a reason to believe this team can challenge in the Bledisloe Cup.
“We’ve had some tough learnings and the boys are working hard,” Alaalatoa told reporters.
“Today was probably one of our toughest Tuesdays, not driven by coaches but from players. The effort is there and (we’re) putting in the work behind the scenes to not only rectify that performance but to be consistent.
“We’re slowly chipping away and building and understanding that if we put in a good week of prep then the boys are ready to go in front of what we believe is going to be a good crowd over here at Accor Stadium.”
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The Wallabies’ last Test was a record 67-27 loss to Los Pumas in Argentina. The hosts scored 38 unanswered points in less than 35 minutes of rugby as they ran away to a commanding lead, and they scored another four tries after that period as well.
That’s the most points they’ve conceded in a Test ever, with that feat eclipsing the 61 points put on them by the Springboks in 1997. With that, the Wallabies are hurting, and they’ll be itching for a shot at redemption this weekend against their great foe.
As for the All Blacks, they’re coming off back-to-back defeats to the Springboks themselves. They were also beaten by Los Pumas in New Zealand earlier in The Rugby Championship, meaning they’ve now lost three of their last four.
These results have set the scene for an intriguing Bledisloe Cup clash in Sydney.
The stage is set.
“The All Blacks are a tough outfit, as we all know, but a lot of our players played a lot of the individuals in Super Rugby which I think is good for us,” Alaalatoa said.
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“Again, our focus is on ourselves. We understand the threats that they’re going to bring but we want to pour all of our attention into us delivering our system over and over again as much as we can.
“Delivering that for 40 (minutes) isn’t good enough, you’ve got to be doing it for 80, and those are the places where we’re going to be pouring in our energy throughout this whole week to then again give us that belief and confidence to go out there on Saturday and just play.”
Allan Alaalatoa's words deciphered:
"Dont get your hopes up and waste time watching the game, we're going to get creamed, and we know it..."
Good to hear that the players are trying, just gotta put the effort in on the field now mate.
Exciting game coming up, hope the Aussies put up a fight.
It's a moral victory if they keep it under 40 PTS and manage to put a few of their own scores on the board.