Statistic of the Day

[Puja]

I'd actually call England's highly unfavourable. We've got Tonga first when they'll be at their strongest and wanting to prove a (physical) point or two. USA next should be our easiest, but they're an improving team wih a canny coach , and it's their first game compared to our 4-day, travel-across-the-entire-country, turnaround from Tonga. Then we've got Argentina who will have all their overseas players back, followed by France who look to be getting their shit together. From there, it's straight on into the quarters, so a run to the final would see us playing 5 consecutive big matches without an opportunity to rotate.

I'd say Australia's got the easiest ride but, as you said, could be underdone. New Zealand's isn't bad - as long as you deal with SA first game, you've got bog all else to bother you in that pool except for a possible game against Germany.

Puja

[Lizard]

Nup. Tonga are not great and USA are worse.

[Puja]

Tonga are the best of the PIs at the moment and the US are improvig to the extent that they beat Scotland (a shadow side, but still). While I'd like to expect two bonus point victories, both teams will be looking to knock us about and will provide a sterner challenge than we'd like. I'd much rather have your pool.

Puja

[rowan]

Fiji are the best of the PIs, both historically and presently. They should rightfully be a tier 1 nation with direct representation on the World Rugby core committee. & they should be playing in the Rugby Championship.

[Lizard]

This is the last Wallabies team to win a Bledisloe series, retaining the Cup, one -all, in 2002. Both tests used the same starting XV and bench:

B. Young
J. A. Paul
P. Noriega
J. B. G. Harrison
N. C. Sharpe
O. D. A. Finegan
G. B. Smith
T. S. Kefu
G. M. Gregan (C)
S. J. Larkham
S. A. Mortlock
D. J. Herbert
M. C. Burke
B. N. Tune
C. E. Latham

RESERVES
B. J. Cannon*
B. J. Darwin
M. J. Cockbain
D. Lyons
C. J. Whitaker*
E. J. Flatley
M. Rogers

*Not used in either test

Since 2002, 130 Wallabies have taken the field seeking the Bledisloe Cup. Those who have never succeeded include Adam Ashley-Cooper, Simon Moore, Matt Giteau, Will Genia, David Pocock and Kurtley Beale.

Nathan Sharpe was the last active Wallaby to have experienced holding the Bledisloe Cup. The 2002 series were his 3rd and 5th caps in his debut season. He retired at the end of 2010.

[rowan]

Not surprising. It's a private schools' game in Aussie, largely confined to Sydney and Brisbane, where it remains very much in the shadow of league. The Aussies punch above their weight at World Cups.

[Lizard]

And here's their opposition - last All Blacks to not win a Bledisloe series:

Bracketed players indicate a selection change between the two tests.

D. N. Hewett
M. G. Hammett/T. E. Willis
G. M. Somerville
C. R. Jack
T. S. Maling
R. D. Thorne (C)
R. H. McCaw
S. M. Robertson
J. W. Marshall
A. P. Mehrtens
C. S. Ralph
A. J. D. Mauger
M. P. Robinson/J. F. Umaga
D. C. Howlett
C. M. Cullen

RESERVES
T. E. Willis/A. K. Hore
J. M. McDonnell
R. K. Willis/M.R. Holah
S. R. Broomhall
B. T. Kelleher
D. P. E. Gibson
B. A. Blair/L. R. MacDonald

NONE of the reserves were used in the first test (imagine that today!) and only McDonnell, Gibson and MacDonald finished the second test (with 11 minutes between them!). Holah came on for 8 minutes in the first half so notorious shirker McCaw could have a little rest. If you were going to make changes, why would you do it when you're 14-13 up with 2 minutes to go? It was Leon McDonald, fresh onto the field, who gave away the injury time penalty that let the Wallabies keep the cup.

[rowan]

Did you know there is no living Welshman who has tasted victory over the All Blacks with Wales? Last survivor of the 1953 test died 2 years ago aged 85. https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wale ... f-12314095

There is, however, a Kiwi survivor of that match - Bill McCaw, who is now 90. No relation to Richie, so far as I can tell, though the late father of another All Blacks captain was in the side, BBJ Fitzpatrick. I briefly met 3 members of that team in Wellington during my youth - including the captain Bob Stuart - the others being Ian Clarke and Bob Scott.

[Doorzetbornandbred]

T. E. Willis

S. R. Broomhall

2002 had some weird-ass selections in hindsight. You get these guys like Tom Willis or Sam Broomhall, who were suddenly All Blacks, starting a bunch of tests in the case of Willis, only to disappear from the international scene just as quickly. We also saw Sam Harding play earlier that year, and them fade away just as quickly.

Willis looked the real deal at one point then suffered with a back injury didnt he? Broomhall was a good player but not really AB's material imo.

[rowan]

I actually had no idea who Ian Clarke was when I met him and only found out after the fact. It was on the eve of the All Blacks v Wales QF at the inaugural World Cup and he tried to tell me the All Blacks were going to put 50 points on Wales. Naturally I had a good laugh about that, before dismissing him as some wacko who knew nothing about rugby and walking away. It was about 10 minutes later that my mate came over and told me I'd just been talking to the former All Blacks captain and brother of the great DB. Anyway, next day the All Blacks beat Wales 49-6. So he was wrong...

[rowan]

Bob Scott I also failed to recognize, come to think of it. That was a little later, in my days as a junior reporter, and I went out to interview Wellington coach Andy Leslie at his menswear store in Petone. There was some pesky old guy with an enormous pink head bobbing around behind the counter, who kept interrupting us during the interview. You guessed it: Former All Blacks fullback Bob Scott who used to kick goals from inside his own half - barefoot! If I'd known it at the time I could've brought up the 49 tour. That would've shut him up.

[rowan]

I would have missed Bob Stuart too had Ivan Vodanovich not pointed him out to me and introduced us. Ivan took me under his wing for some reason and used to invite me down to NZRFU HQ in the old Huddart Paker bldg just to hang out. I even met the Aussie dignitaries when the Wallabies were in town one year and received a big sweaty handshake from Bob Templeton!

[Lizard]

The Wallabies at Eden Park
The Wallabies have played 29 tests at Eden Park, beginning in 1931. Before then, they had played only 4 tests in NZ at Carisbrook (1905, 1913), Athletic Park (1913) and Lancaster Park (1913), winning only the latter.

27 of the Wallabies' Eden Park tests were against the All Blacks for 23 losses and 4 wins (1949, 1955, 1978 &1986). The other two were during RWC2011 losing in Pool C to Ireland and winning bronze v Wales.

Honours at the ground were initially relatively even. The All Blacks won the first two in 1931 and 1946, followed by two wins for Aussie in 1949 (effectively against an NZ 2nd XV as the "real" All Blacks were busy losing a test series 4-0 in South Africa) and 1955. NZ then won 2 more (1962, 1972) before losing in 1978, making the over all score 4 win to 3 for NZ. NZ then won in '82 & '85 before the 1986 hiccup. Since then they've made it 17 on the trot (1989-91, 1995, 1999, 2003, 2005-09, twice in 2011, 2012, 2014-16).

[rowan]

The first World Cup had yet to be played, professionalism and Super Rugby were still a decade away, and most of the current All Blacks squad hadn't been born the last time the Wallabies beat New Zealand at Eden Park, 11,675 days ago. It was September 6, 1986, and Australia won 22-9, and they haven't beaten the All Blacks at the venue since. In fact, no team has beaten the All Blacks in Auckland since France's 23-20 victory on July 3, 1994. Believe it or not, however, New Zealand has a superior all-time winning record at Carisbrook, Dunedin, Wellington's Westpac Stadium, and even Landsdowne Road and Murrayfield, than it does at Eden Park with 84%.

[Lizard]

The All Blacks have a 100% winning record at 43 different test venues worldwide, 8 in New Zealand* and 3 in Auckland.

*7 if you count Waikato Stadium as the same as the old Rugby Park.

[rowan]

Teams from the Wallabies' last win at Eden Park

Team
15 FB
Kieran Crowley
14 W
John Kirwan
13 C
Joe Stanley
12 C
Arthur Stone
11 W
Craig Green
10 FH
Frano Botica
9 SH
David Kirk (c)
1 P
Steve McDowall
2 H
Hika Reid
3 P
Gary Knight
4 L
Gary Whetton
5 L
Murray Pierce
6 F
Mark Shaw
7 F
Jock Hobbs
8 N8
Mike Brewer
Replacements
16 FH
Marty Berry

15 FB
Andrew Leeds
14 W
David Campese
13 C
Andrew Slack (c)
12 C
Brett Papworth
11 W
Matthew Burke
10 FH
Michael Lynagh
9 SH
Nick Farr-Jones
1 P
Topo Rodriguez
2 H
Tom Lawton
3 P
Mark Hartill
4 L
Steve Cutler
5 L
Bill Campbell
6 F
Jeff Miller
7 F
Simon Poidevin
8 N8
Steve Tuynman

[rowan]

Gary Knight surely the oldest player there, he'd be well into retirement age by now, presuming he's still with us. He was on the 78 grand slam tour, with the likes of Frank Oliver, BG and Bruce Robertson, having debuted a year before that, and was one of the front row trio dubbed the 'geriatrics' as far back as 85! & he won a C/W Games medal way back in 74 - in wrestling.

NB: Wiki states he is still alive and kicking, and will be turning 67 on Sunday

[Lizard]

Players who have 100+ more test caps than points:
Gethin Jenkins: 134 caps, 20 points
Jason Leonard: 119 caps, 5 points
Owen Franks: 100 caps, 0 points

[rowan]

Japan and Canada are the only two non-tier 1 nations to have reached every World Cup, but of course the latter nave not yet confirmed their place in next year's 9th installment. The Pacific trio and the US have all missed one tournament, while Romania is out of the running for 2019, which will be the first time they've missed out - and also the first time a tier 2 nation has failed to qualify since expansion in 99. Georgia is technically the only tier 2 nation to have missed out more than once, failing to qualify at its first two attempts in 95 & 99. Since then it has qualified for 5 straight World Cups. Namibia holds the record for tier 3 nations, now qualified for its 6th straight tournament. Uruguay will be appearing for the 4th time next year, while Russian will be playing at its 2nd tournament. Zimbabwe is the only other tier 3 nation to have competed at more than one World Cup (87 & 91). Ivory Coast, Spain & Portugal have been the one-hit-wonders.

[rowan]

Interesting that Uruguay is still the only tier 3 team to have won a match at the tournament too. In fact, they've done it twice, beating Spain in 99 and emerging (literally) Georgia in 2003.

[rowan]

[rowan]

Poor old Namibia has all the negative RWC records with 19 straight losses, 3 last place finishes, 1 2nd last and 1 3rd last, and the biggest loss ever - 142-0 v Australia. Still, their last tournament was by far their best and produced by far their closest result to date - a one point loss to Georgia. & next year they will have a golden opportunity to snatch their first win when they play the winner of the upcoming repechage tournament.

[Lizard]

Average margins since RWC2011

I've been trying to think of a succinct way to measure whether (and if so by how much) Steve Hansen's All Blacks are so much better than other top sides, as seems to be the accepted truth. Obviously straight win percentages don't help as not every team plays the same opposition. So to try and limit it to truly competitive matches, I've taken only the 6N teams*, TRC teams and the Lions, and calculated the average margin for each of those teams when playing the others since RWC2011. (As well as overall averages, I've got the various head-to-head figures to hand, if anyone is interested):

New Zealand: +15.5
England: +5.9
Ireland: +4.3
South Africa: +3.4
Lions: +2.3
Wales: +2.0
Australia: -1.8
France: -3.4
Scotland: -3.9
Argentina: -11.0
Italy: -16.6

I guess the most succinct way to put it, is that the All Blacks are about as far ahead of the pack as Italy are behind it. 8 of the 11 teams win or lose, on average, by less than a converted try. Argentina slip below that, but have had a steep learning curve with 53% of their relevant matches being against NZ, Australia or South Africa. Italy are predictably way behind even that. NZ are the only side winning on average by more than 6 points, and they exceed that comfortably.

*I was sorely tempted to leave Italy out, but with 5 wins against the other top sides during this period, I felt obliged to leave them in. The other arguably competitive teams which have won matches against the Big 11 since RWC2011 are Japan (4 wins), Samoa (4), Fiji (3), Tonga (2) and USA (1).

[Lizard]

The Springboks victory pushed a number of All Blacks off the “never lost a test” list (with total caps in brackets):
Tu’inukuafe (7)
J Barrett (7)
Goodhue (5)
Coltman (3)
Perry (3)

Current All Blacks yet to experience a loss are:
Fifita (7)
Frizzell (2)
Mounga (2)
Hemopo (1)
Tahuriorangi (1)


Current players (any country) without a loss after at least 5 tests:
Alex Gordas (Romania) 12
D Leavy (Ireland) 10
G Aprasidze (Georgia) 8
M Leindekar Virginio (Uruguay) 8
A Porter (Ireland) 8
DF Sethie (Namibia) 8
A Conway (Ireland) 7
V Fifita (NZ) 7


Most tests (for any country) without a loss:
John Gallagher (NZ) 18*
Charles Piutau (NZ) 17
Corey Flynn (NZ) 15
Waka Nathan (NZ) 14*
Matt Todd (NZ) 14**
Alex Gordas (Romania) 12
Bill Davis (NZ) 11

Eight players are on 10 (3x NZ, 1 each from SA, England, Ireland, France, Japan).



*Includes 1 draw
**In Japan temporarily but signed with NZRU to 2019. Technically not a current All Black.

[Lizard]

This weekend featured the All Black’s 28th test against Argentina, to whom they have never lost.

Most matches against particular opposition without a loss

Unsurprisingly, this list is dominated by stronger nations with regular competition against lower tier opposition, such as Argentina in South America or England v Italy in the 6N. No. of draws is indicated by *.

41: Argentina v Urugauy
38: Argentina v Chile
31: New Zealand v Scotland**
28: New Zealand v Argentina*
26: Uruguay v Paraguay*
24: England v Italy
24: Romania v Czechia*
17: Argentina v Paraguay
17: Australia v Italy

Best for other selected nations:

14: Italy v West Germany*
9: France v Fiji
9: Ireland v USA, Romania
9: South Africa v Samoa
8: Wales v Tonga
7: Scotland v Japan
6: Samoa v Canada
6: Tonga v Korea
3: Fiji v HK, PNG
1: Lions v Argentina*

And of course an honourable mention to Japan, undefeated in 1 test against the Springboks.