‘Boils down to this’: How Bledisloe Cup compares to World Cup for All Blacks

On Saturday afternoon at Sydney’s Accor Stadium, the All Blacks will look to make history once again. While the Springboks can’t be dethroned as world champions for another few years yet, the All Blacks can ensure a prestigious Cup remains on their side of the ditch.

The Bledisloe Cup series pits little brother against the big brother in a battle for Trans-Tasman rugby supremacy. It’s a sporting contest between New Zealand and Australia that dates back more than 90 years and beyond 170 Tests.

Every year, New Zealand’s long-lasting dominance is brought up. The All Blacks have held the Cup since winning two Tests from two in 2003, which included a 50-21 win over the Wallabies at Stadium Australia in Sydney – the venue for this weekend’s clash.

The Wallabies haven’t beaten their arch-rivals since November 7, 2020.

New Zealand have won the last seven Tests and they want that run to continue.

This is a Cup that the All Blacks hold in high regard. When Rieko Ioane helped the Blues win Super Rugby Pacific earlier this year, the midfielder surprisingly said that he would, “Put a Super Rugby title above a World Cup.”

But as a team, it’s the World Cup then the Bledisloe.

“The Bled’s right up there for us and our team,” Ioane told RugbyPass.

“In here we talk behind a World Cup, it is the most important.

“With the history that’s been and the results that we’ve had this year, it all boils down to this game on Saturday and we need to make sure that we get it right.

“The boys have trained hard; we’ve had an honest look at ourselves. We just can’t wait for Saturday.”

When the All Blacks announced their team for this weekend’s match, it wasn’t at all a surprise to see Ioane named in the midfield along with Jordie Barrett. Ioane burst onto the scene in 2017 as a winger but has since evolved into a Test-level outside centre.

The combination between the duo has been impressive at times, but with the All Blacks losing their way a bit in 2024, it’s also a partnership that has come under fire. New Zealand have lost three of their last four Tests, including back-to-back defeats in South Africa.

Some fans would love to see Ioane move back to the left wing where they perceive the All Black to be more of a try-scoring threat. But in a one-on-one chat with this writer, Ioane opened up about his evolution as a rugby talent despite not scoring any points in 2024 so far.

“In terms of my case, I think they grew accustomed to all the tries and the highlights from the earlier years,” Ioane explained.

“But, for this team, did Conrad (Smith) really score that many tries? People weren’t out saying, ‘Why’s he not out scoring tries’ because he’s focusing his skills on other places. He was defending, being that distributor.

“It comes with it. I’ve evolved my game from just tries and I used to struggle on defence and I don’t now. It’s all part of developing my game and it’s far from the finished product but I know it’s trending in the right direction and I still know what I can do.

“My team and the coaches have all that faith in me.”