New Zealand Listener - November 5, 2016

NOVEMBER 5 2016 http://www.listener.co.nz 47

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A

lthough much fuss was made of the All

Blacks setting a tier-one-nation record of 18

consecutive victories when they defeated

the Wallabies at Eden Park last weekend,

it is, arguably, the least impressive of their four

winning streaks.

For a start, there was an air of inevitability about

it. In 2010, they got to 15 consecutive victories

before losing to Australia in Hong Kong, the match

in which Stephen Donald suffered the fall from

grace that must precede redemption; in 2012, they

got to 16 wins on the trot and in 2014 to 17, both

streaks ending in draws with the Wallabies.

Thus an All Blacks team of very recent vintage

and including many of the current crop jointly

held the old record with the 1997-98 Springboks

and the 1965-69 All Blacks. (There’s an interest-

ing debate to be had over whether it was

harder to put together a winning run in

the days of three or four tests a year or

in the modern era of 14 or 15 a year.

The fact the All Blacks threatened

the record three times in six years

before breaking it suggests the

former. Then again, with the

exception of resurgent England,

the other nations are thrilled

with back-to-back victories.)

T

he other streaks, however,

represent clear breaks with the

past. Eden Park is now officially a

fortress – the All Blacks haven’t lost

there since 1994 – but it wasn’t ever

thus. In the 1970s, for instance, the

All Blacks lost three and drew one of

their seven games there.

One of those victories was over the

1972 Australians, the original Woeful

Wallabies; another was the 1975

water polo test against a Scottish

team handicapped by the fact half

of them couldn’t swim; and in the

third, against the 1977 British Lions,

the All Blacks got such a

monstering up front they

resorted to the then legal

but forever humiliating

gambit of packing down

three-man scrums.

The All Blacks have

now won a record 45

consecutive matches

at home.

They’ve

always been

hard to beat on their

own patch but not to the extent

visitors must feel that they’re on a

mission impossible.

Although the All Blacks have lost

only four home series, clean sweeps

were comparatively rare until

recently, and in the 12 months

before this streak started, they lost

twice at home to South Africa and

once to France.

The All Blacks have held the

Bledisloe Cup since 2003, winning

29 and drawing two of the 37 games.

Historically, the Wallabies have won

almost a third of all matches between

the two countries; they’d held the

cup from 1998 to 2003, winning

nine of the 14 games in that period.

Indeed, there were well-founded

fears New Zealand was in immi-

nent danger of being usurped as the

pre-eminent rugby nation.

Although few were willing to say so

publicly, we owed a vote of thanks to

the England team and, in particular,

flyhalf Jonny Wilkinson, whose extra-

time drop goal denied the Wallabies

in the 2003 Rugby World Cup final in

Sydney.

If the Aussies had prevailed, they

then would have won three of the

five World Cups, which, coupled with

their Bledisloe Cup run, would have

amounted to an irresistible case for

global leadership.

Since beating the Wallabies at Eden

Park in their final game before the

2011 World Cup, the All Blacks have

lost three and drawn two of their

72 games, thereby backing up the

famous whiteboard claim to being the

most dominant team in history. Next

week’s column will try to explain

this unprecedented and previously

unthinkable achievement. l

Inevitability of

painting it Black

Kudos for 18 consecutive

wins, but there are better

records that show New

Zealand’s dominance.

by Paul Thomas

SPORT

We owed a vote of thanks to the

England team and, in particular,

flyhalf Jonny Wilkinson.

All Black wing Julian Savea returned to

his blockbusting best against Australia.

Below, England’s Rugby World Cup winner

Jonny Wilkinson.