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The Brisbane hoodoo that All Blacks captain Sam Cane wants broken in Bledisloe Cup IV

(Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

The All Blacks are preparing for a desperate Wallabies outfit looking to land a punch in the fourth and final Bledisloe Cup test in Brisbane on Saturday night.

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The Australians’ hopes of wresting back the trans-Tasman trophy after 18 years in New Zealand hands ended last Saturday with an embarrassing 43-5 defeat in Sydney.

The record third test loss continued a downward spiral after a promising opening test draw in Wellington last month.

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    Healthspan Elite Performance of the Week | How Richie Mo’unga bossed the Wallabies in Bledisloe Cup III

    But All Blacks skipper Sam Cane feels the Wallabies are a danger when they have little to lose.

    “I think so – they’ve always been a side that plays well when their backs are against the wall and you could say that’s where they are at the moment,” Cane said on Friday.

    One thing in the home side’s favour is their record at Suncorp Stadium – their favourite Australian ground.

    The Wallabies are unbeaten in three of the past four tests, including one draw, against the All Blacks at the venue – winning their last clash there 23-18 in 2017.

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    The stadium usually throws up close affairs with the last seven Bledisloe Cup tests played there, dating to 1996 when it was still called Lang Park, decided by seven points or less.

    “I see it as massive challenge for us – I look at our record at Suncorp and it’s something that we’re not proud of,” the openside flanker said.

    “We want to make sure we do everything we can to go out there to get a good win against them.

    “Obviously the Wallabies enjoy playing there because they’ve got that record over us but I can’t pinpoint it – stadiums are a funny thing.

    “But there’s no point hiding from the fact that we haven’t been the sharpest there.”

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    Among sweeping changes the All Blacks have included four debutants including Akira Ioane at blindside flanker, joining his winger brother Rieko Ioane.

    The Wallabies also have another new face in their back row, with Lachie Swinton wearing the No.6 jersey.

    Cane said he didn’t know much about the 23-year-old Waratahs workhorse.

    “I don’t know a heck of a lot but I know they’ll just be looking for him to do his job, no doubt,” he said.

    The Bledisloe Cup trophy was Cane’s first since taking over as full-time New Zealand captain in May and he said he’d now set his sights on the Tri-Nations title, which the Sydney and Brisbane tests are a part of.

    “I’ve always enjoyed being part of teams that have won a Bledisloe Cup and I suppose I’ve felt a wee bit more responsibility being the captain and because of that it was extra satisfying,” he said.

    “I’m just really proud of the work we’ve put in over the last month and it’s been cool to tick that off and now looking forward to doing another, hopefully.”

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    J
    JW 12 minutes ago
    Competing interests and rotated squads: What the 'player welfare summer' is really telling us

    Nice, that’s good to hear, I was worried for the tackler and it increasing concussions overall.


    My question is still the same, and the important one though. Where the rate of concussions in Fed 2 high? Of course if there where only three concussions, and they were reduced now to one, then there is no need for the new laws etc.


    There are two angles to this discussion, mine above about player welfare, and of course the that which you raise, legal responsibility. More, the legal responsibility we are concerned with is what’s happening now.


    WR don’t really know much about CTE I wouldn’t think, whether it happens from innocuous things like heading a ball, or from small knocks or big knocks that don’t heal. Right now they are ensuring the backside is clean by implementing laws to rule out any possibility they didn’t do enough. So once they understand the problem more they may realise some things are overboard.


    The other legal responsibility is the one you are talking about in France, the past. Did the LNR and WR know about the severity and frequency of CTE in rugby? That is the question in that debate. If they didn’t know then theres nothing they could have done, so there is no worry. Further, what we may have now is a situation where 90% of those court actions might not happen in future thanks to the new framework we already have around HIA and head contact processes. Your English example is only going to be an issue if future players still continue to receive CTE (as that is obviously bad), as it is now, the players have taken on their own responsibility by ignore advice. No doubt some countries, like France and New Zealand, will lower their tackle height, but as long as the union has done an adequate job in advising of the severity of the problem at least the legal shadow over the community game will have gone.

    227 Go to comments
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