A visit from former Wallaby and MND sufferer Nathan Charles in Auckland - and belief gained from ending a six-decade hoodoo last year - has the Wallabies armed with quiet confidence as they attempt to bury several droughts in the Bledisloe Cup series.
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they → gain → series
The Wallabies will take on the All Blacks at Eden Park on Saturday night, in the opening clash of the two-game Bledisloe Cup series.
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Wallabies → take → series
Australia haven’t won the Bledisloe Cup since 2002; a losing streak of such length that four Wallabies who’ll play in Auckland weren’t born at the time, and another seven were under the age of 3.
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seven → win → 3
But that’s only one of the hoodoos to contend with.
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that → ’ → hoodoos
To give themselves a chance of winning the Bledisloe Cup, the Wallabies will have to win for the first time at Eden Park since 1986; a venue where the Kiwis have a 53-match unbeaten streak against all sides, dating back to 1994.
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Kiwis → give → 1994
It’s uphill territory, but the Wallabies were given a timely dose of perspective and motivation on Friday, with Charles attending the captain’s run at Eden Park.
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Charles → ’ → Park
Charles defied cystic fibrosis to become a four-Test Wallaby hooker in 2014, but last week revealed he has Motor Neurone Disease.
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he → defy → Disease
The 37-year-old subsequently appeared alongside Jai Arrow in a pre-game tribute at last Sunday’s NRL grand final.
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old → appear → final
Known as “Cheezy”, Charles and his fiancée Steph were greeted by Les Kiss and many Wallabies players and staff.
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Charles → know → Kiss
The former Force forward also got a rousing applause from the players when he posed with them in a team photo.
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he → get → photo
“It’s really special to have him here, he is a former Wallaby and obviously it’s terrible what he’s been diagnosed with, but just seeing him around here, he’s got a smile on his face and he was joking with the boys, and he’s just really happy to be here,” Wallabies captain Harry Wilson said.
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Wilson → ’ → boys
“I know he’s come over here wanting to see a great Wallabies result, and he’s given us a bit of confidence.
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he → know → confidence
It’s terrible what’s happened to him, but he’s out here living his life and he’s a happy man.
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he → ’ → life
It’s just great to have him around the group.”
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It → ’ → group
The Wallabies enter this game as $4 outsiders.
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Wallabies → enter → outsiders
But the local media is more nervous than in the past years, given the Wallabies had a win over the Springboks in their last start, and are on an unbeaten streak of six games.
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Wallabies → give → games
New Zealand are also struggling with injuries to key players and have lost their last three Tests.
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Zealand → struggle → Tests
Asked if the All Blacks are vulnerable, Wilson was happy to let the loaded question sail through to the wicketkeeper.
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question → ask → wicketkeeper
“We’ve just got to worry about ourselves, I’m not giving them any more ammo.
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I → get → ammo
We just want to go out there and play some good footy,” he said.
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he → want → footy
But the Australian skipper conceded the Wallabies’ win at Ellis Park last year, for the first time since 1963, against the Springboks was a source of confidence about the team’s capacity to take down a long-standing curse.
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win → concede → curse
“Ellis Park, that definitely gives the group confidence,” Wilson said.
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that → give → confidence
No one really gave us a shot, but we went out there and we played a good game and we got the result.
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we → give → result
This group, we just wanted to keep improving and we’ve done that since then.
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we → want → that
That showed the group what we can do on our day, and why not [here]?”
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we → show → day
A mostly similar Wallabies side went close to breaking the Eden Park drought last year when they fought back from a 17-point deficit early, and only trailed 26-24 with 12 minutes to go.
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they → go → minutes
But controversial Italian referee Andrea Piardi had also taken issue with the Wallabies discipline, pinging them 7-0 in the last 25 minutes, in an overall lost penalty count of 15-10.
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Piardi → take → 15
Harry Potter was sin-binned in the 72nd minute and All Blacks halfback Cam Roigard scored two minutes later to secure a 33-24 win for the hosts.
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Roigard → bin → hosts
“We’ve shown ourselves in patches over the last couple of years that we’re a team who can have a really good 30 minutes against the All Blacks and we know to beat them we’re probably going to need a good 80 minutes, or 80-plus minutes,” Wilson said.
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Wilson → show → minutes
“I like to think if we put it together we’ll be in for a good shot.”
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we → like → shot
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