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

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.

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.

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

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.”

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.”

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.