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The Brisbane hoodoo that All Blacks captain Sam Cane wants broken in Bledisloe Cup IV
By AAP
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.
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.
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.
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."
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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Latest Comments
There's no easy fix here. From a geography standpoint, South Africa is kind of on an island alone in the rugby world, much like Argentina.
They don't have enough talent to have a top tier domestic league of their own, and it won't support the union financially. Best case you could hope for would be the five extant franchises (including Cheetahs) and perhaps a team from Namimbia. Gives you a 6 team league, that's not enough. Plus again, it's just not financially sustainable either.
At the same time, it's not really great for them to be involved in either the European or the Pacific rugby set up. That said, as bad as the travel is, at least Europe makes more sense from a time zone perspective. I still think it's the least bad option. Also has done wonders for the URC.
I don't think though, that it makes very much sense to have 4 teams from the URC excluded from European qualification. Not to mention, being able to compete in the Champions Cup was a big draw for the South African clubs anyway.
So yeah, I don't really see a change that makes more sense than the less than ideal situation that already exists.
Go to commentsMoriaty refused to play for wales also he’s injured, France’s is being coy about wales, North in the dark but Sam David and jerad are you joking their not good enough
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