All Blacks v Wallabies - Bledisloe I
Kick-off: 5:05pm Saturday 27 September NZT
Eden Park, Auckland
Live blog updates on RNZ
Amid all the fallout of the All Blacks' horror loss to the Springboks, the Wallabies have slipped into Auckland determined to make a bit of their own history too. The Bledisloe Cup has resided on this side of the Tasman for an almost unbelievable 23 years, however the belief is there in Joe Schmidt's side that they can pull off an upset this weekend at Eden Park.
Despite losing their last match to the Pumas in Sydney, veteran prop Alan Alaalatoa said that there had been "plenty of growth" this season so far.
"I think what we saw over the course of two weeks (against the Pumas) was lots of pride for the jersey and the fight back in both games," he said, referencing the Wallabies' win the week before in Townsville that's seen them go top of the Rugby Championship standings.
"The fight that the boys had to come back to win one and to give ourselves an opportunity to potentially win the next…there were definitely some key learnings in there."
Alaalatoa acknowledged that the set piece battle will be an interesting one at Eden Park this Saturday, as the All Blacks were exposed badly in Wellington by a Springbok team that picked off their lineout with ease.
Alan Alaalatoa. Photo: Lynne Cameron/ActionPress
"I think for us, it's great. When you got Crono (legendary scrum coach Mike Cron) there, who is the the scrum. Big Sass (lineout coach Tom Donnelly) has been a great addition to the team around that space. We're we just totally focused on ourselves, making sure that as a unit everyone's doing their own individual role to buy into the collective."
The Wallabies now face a wounded All Black side, which across history has generally been the worst time to ever attempt to beat them - let alone at Eden Park. However, Alaalatoa said that the result in Wellington is a bit of a double-edged sword.
"We'll see how the South Africans got the All Blacks… you know that you're going to want to come out and make an improvement in that area as well," he said.
Harry Wilson of the Wallabies takes a selfie with fans. Photo: Jason McCawley/Getty Images
"I think for us as an opposing team, you're going to look at what the Africans did. But then again, we don't we don't scrum like the Africans. We scrum completely different and what we do works for us. So we just got to make sure that we always bring it back to us and understand how we are going to impose our own game."
No matter what happens, Alaalatoa agreed that right now, it feels pretty good to be a Wallaby. The massive interest in the recent British & Irish Lions tour as well as their upset win over the Springboks at Ellis Park has meant a serious resurgence in support for rugby in Australia, so the motivation to take the Bledisloe Cup is much broader than an on field one.
"I think it's been awesome, it's like the atmosphere has been growing. Every stadium that we've been to, and all the towns that we've been in, you see young kids and adults walking around the Wallaby jerseys, which I think it's just been so good as a player. To see that adds a little bit more motivation for you to want to go out and perform for your country."
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