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'Where's the pride in the jersey': All Blacks legends aim cheeky jibe at Wallabies after thrashing

(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

All Blacks legend Sir John Kirwan has had a cheeky dig at the Wallabies after their thrashing at the hands of the All Blacks in the third Bledisloe Cup test over the weekend.

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The All Blacks were dominant in Sydney on Saturday night, dismantling the Wallabies 43-5 to once again retain the Bledisloe Cup for another year.

Speaking on Sky Sport‘s The Breakdown, Kirwan said he was disappointed with the Aussies’ performance after looking strong in the first two tests.

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The All Blacks lock the Bledisloe Cup away | The Breakdown | Episode 41

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The All Blacks lock the Bledisloe Cup away | The Breakdown | Episode 41

“I think the disappointing thing for all of us was the Australian thing showed so much promise in the last couple of games,” he said.

“Even the test at Eden Park was relatively good. Then they come out with a performance like that. Let’s just hope it’s a speed bump and they continue to get better. I don’t know.

“I said the honeymoon’s over for Dave Rennie because it is. I don’t know what he’s going to do this week at [number] 10. The interesting thing for me though is the pressure now on an All Black team after 19 years, you don’t want to be the person to lose it. So that relief on the weekend was palpable. It was beautiful to watch.”

Kirwan then couldn’t help but twist the knife on the Wallabies, adding: “I really sincerely hope that the Australian side bounces back and plays incredibly well and only get pumped by 20.”

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Kirwan’s co-host and fellow former All Black great Jeff Wilson was also disappointed in the Wallabies’ performance, but was even more outraged at the lacklustre turnout at ANZ Stadium from the Australian fans.

“Where was the pride in the jersey?” asked Wilson. “But more importantly I’m really disappointed and frustrated that they had the opportunity to have 40,000 fans. The NRL final got 40,000 – it was full. 18,000, just over 18,000 turned up for this. For me Sanzaar here have failed.

“I don’t think New Zealand Rugby are responsible in any way, shape or form because we had a tournament planned to have it here in New Zealand with fans. We could’ve done that and we could’ve actually delivered not just to our fans, to the fans across the southern hemisphere, across the globe – a united atmosphere.

“And in the end the Wallabies would’ve probably been better off because they played better in New Zealand than they did at home. And to me, I think they have failed the fans in this case because too many people have missed out.”

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The Wallabies will hope to avoid a clean sweep in the fourth and final Bledisloe Cup test against the All Blacks this Saturday in Brisbane.

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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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