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'It was brought up the other day in a leaders' meeting': Why the All Blacks are bracing for a close match in Brisbane

(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Having lost their most recent match in Brisbane, the All Blacks concede their record at Suncorp Stadium has been a talking point as they attempt to finish their Bledisloe Cup campaign unbeaten this Saturday night.

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After an opening draw in Wellington the New Zealanders have gone from strength to strength – winning 27-7 in the second Test in Auckland before crushing the Wallabies 43-5 in Sydney to secure the prized trans-Tasman trophy.

The fourth and final clash will take place in Queensland, and while there has been a big turnover in troops in both teams the All Blacks are aware that Suncorp Stadium is the Wallabies’ favourite home ground.

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The Aotearoa Rugby Pod panel discuss who they have picked for the Healthspan Elite Performance of the Week following the third Bledisloe Cup test in Sydney Australia.

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The Aotearoa Rugby Pod panel discuss who they have picked for the Healthspan Elite Performance of the Week following the third Bledisloe Cup test in Sydney Australia.

Indeed in the sunshine state, at various venues, the Australians have won 62 per cent of their 93 games.

The Wallabies have lost only one of their last four Tests against New Zealand at Suncorp, with matches there tending to be close affairs. All six trans-Tasman clashes at the stadium dating back to 2006 have been decided by five or fewer points.

Like Saturday night’s match the teams’ most recent meeting, in 2017, was a dead-rubber but the Wallabies snatched a memorable 23-18 victory to end a run of seven straight defeats.

Australia scored three tries to two, while superboot Reece Hodge nailed two second-half penalties from beyond the halfway line to ice the win.

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All Blacks assistant coach John Plumtree said New Zealand’s record in Brisbane had been discussed.

“It was brought up the other day in a leaders’ meeting that the All Blacks haven’t got a great record in Brisbane,” Plumtree said.

“But are we using it as a motivating factor? No, not really.

“Our sole purpose right now is just to keep improving as a group and keep setting small challenges for the team.”

New Zealand are planning personnel changes while there are also likely to be some fresh faces in the Wallabies line-up following the demoralising loss in Sydney and injury to lock Lukhan Salakaia-Loto.

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But Dave Rennie’s line-up is still likely to have a heavy Reds flavour, which Plumtree felt could work in the home side’s favour.

Of the match-day 23 in Sydney, nine were Reds players, while veterans James Slipper and Rob Simmons spent most of their careers in Queensland.

“There’s a lot of the boys in the Wallabies side who are from Brisbane and they’ve got an opportunity to play in the front of their families on a different stadium,” Plumtree said.

He believed new Wallabies coach Rennie would get a bounce back from his side after their Sydney disappointment.

“They’re hurting a bit, and knowing the coaching group they will be picking their game apart and demanding improvement and I’m sure we’re going to see that.

“We’re expecting a real physical match.”

– Melissa Woods

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Tom 5 hours ago
Will Bristol's daredevil 'Bears-ball' deliver the trophy they crave?

Also a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.


I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.


I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.


Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.


“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”

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