The Bledisloe Cup was a better series when the Wallabies held it

I’ve been watching Bledisloe Cup rugby since 1980.

When I think back on the intervening years, I can say without reservation that the series’ I enjoyed most were when Australia was the holder. Or, at the very least, a legitimate threat to claim the cup.

Bledisloe Cup rugby is better when the Wallabies win it.

Man, there were generations of Australian players and coaches that I absolutely loathed. Now, I couldn’t care less about them.

They’re not a threat and therefore not worthy of the strong, often irrational, feelings I had towards them as a boy and younger man.

I reckon I was just about the last person left in the old Sydney Football Stadium, after the Wallabies won 19-14 there in 1998. I think it was the All Blacks’ fifth loss in a row that season, from memory.

I just couldn’t believe New Zealand had been beaten at the death and I eventually had to be dragged disconsolate into the night, long after the players had left the field.

The Wallabies won the Rugby World Cup the following year, to underline the superiority they enjoyed at the time.

I’m less invested in the outcome of this year’s matches, mostly because I assume they won’t be contests.

In terms of wins and losses there might be nothing between the All Blacks and Wallabies this season but, in reality, I suspect we’ll see that one side is clearly better than the other.

That disappoints me for a couple of reasons.

First, as I alluded to, professional sport only matters when the result means something.

In that period between 1998 and 2002, when Australia were last Bledisloe Cup holders, the games were often phenomenal. Fans, players, coaches, media and administrators were utterly immersed in every kick of the ball.

Winning was everything and, try as they might, a succession of All Black teams weren’t good enough to wrest back the cup.

I miss those days very much, which is why I believe the Bledisloe Cup would be enhanced by Australia holding it again.

Second, retaining it this time will only paper over the evident cracks in the current All Blacks.

It’s easy to write off this season’s defeat to Argentina as a bad 30 minutes or dismiss losses to South Africa as respectable, even encouraging performances away from home against the World Cup holders.

But a good portion of this All Blacks team has been losing games for years now, without any obvious repercussions for them or changes to the way they try to play.

It will be easy - and also extremely lazy - to beat Australia comfortably in this Bledisloe Cup series and assume that everything’s hunky dory.

To proclaim lessons have been learned and that the methods of this new coaching staff are starting to take effect.

Defeat to the Wallabies, however, would necessitate serious scrutiny and soul searching. It might even end one or two careers.

Ultimately, I think that would be a good thing.

Being an All Black doesn’t appear to be an uncomfortable occupation. In fact it looks like quite a cushy one, where the pay’s good, scrutiny limited and there’s paid sabbaticals to Japan, France or Ireland if you fancy it.

There’s no jeopardy for poor performances, because everyone’s become accustomed to you losing anyway and only the fringe guys ever get dropped.

But such is New Zealand’s collective disregard for Australian rugby at all levels, that the surrender of the Bledisloe Cup to this rather embarrassing Wallabies side might end the armchair ride that many All Blacks appear to be enjoying.

I certainly hope so.