It’s one of the most iconic rivalries in rugby, yet for over 20 years, it hasn’t even really been a competition. 

New Zealand-Australia’s annual Bledisloe Cup competition pits the trans-Tasman adversaries and two of the world’s most celebrated rugby nations against each other for bragging rights in Oceania, with iconic players and moments scattered all throughout the series’ history. 

Yet even the most rabid of Wallabies supporters will admit — it’s been getting awfully one-sided. 

Since Australia last held the trophy 21 years ago, the All Blacks have romped away with the Bledisloe Cup every year since. The Wallabies have won fixtures against New Zealand in that time, sure, but whenever the All Blacks have been hit in the mouth by their neighbours, they’ve always seemed to respond devastatingly and with a type of conviction that bullies Australia into submission. 

Australia goes into every Bledisloe match, hoping that this is the year. New Zealand goes into every Bledisloe match, trying to ensure those hopes flame out immediately. But even with such a long-lasting run of dominance from the All Blacks, games are rarely boring and always a fight between two bitter adversaries. 

And with the Rugby World Cup coming in September and preparations vital, fewer things in sports are better to lift spirits than victories with some emotion behind them. 

Here’s a look ahead at the epic close of each team’s Rugby Championship campaign, kicking off at 5:45 a.m. ET and is streamed live in the United States on FloRugby:  

The Home Stretch of Ian Foster 

From just barely dodging calls to be sacked a year ago to piloting one of the top-performing sides in the world over the past few cycles, the turnaround in form that’s been orchestrated by New Zealand coach Ian Foster — who will depart the national team following the World Cup, to be succeeded by highly-successful Crusaders boss Scott Robertson — must be commended. Unbeaten in their past nine fixtures with eight wins in that same stretch, the All Blacks have all but locked up their third consecutive Rugby Championship trophy and have largely looked like world-beaters in good timing, considering the biggest stage in international rugby is now only weeks away. Capturing a second trophy with the TRC win — the Bledisloe Cup — against rival Australia in Melbourne would merely pile on the continuing misery for the sputtering Wallabies (more on that down below) while keeping things upbeat for New Zealand in the leadup to France as it looks to retain the Webb Ellis Cup that it lost in 2019. The All Blacks squad heading into the clash at the Melbourne Cricket Ground was dealt a bit of a blow as captain Sam Cane was ruled out due to a neck injury suffered during their win over South Africa in the TRC, but NZ should be just fine with replacement captain Ardie Savea wearing the armband in hostile territory, even with over 80,000 expected in attendance at the largest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere. Blues man Dalton Papali’i will wear the No. 7 shirt in Cane’s absence, but otherwise, Foster has rolled out his strongest available XV with veterans like Sam Whitelock and Anton Leinert-Brown additionally available off of the bench. 

Errors Plague Start of Eddie Jones’ Return

The much-ballyhooed return of Eddie Jones, a native Aussie and former Wallabies boss who led his home country to the World Cup final in 2003, has not gone to plan through two games in charge, with Australia getting smashed by South Africa in Jones’ first game back before losing in Sydney to Argentina, anchoring the Wallabies to the bottom of the Rugby Championship table entering the final round. And though Jones is keeping things lighthearted by trying to play some mind games — noting in a press conference this week that “There’s nothing better than winning against New Zealand because you’re feeling the country sinking” — the reality is that Jones needs a big result, and fast, so that the Wallabies don’t enter the World Cup on a lengthened downslide and the pressure on his appointment ramps up even more. Jones has shuffled the lineup around to try and get that result against the All Blacks as the Wallabies return to the MCG for the first time in 16 years in an attempt to get some new faces in the fray that may make major differences. No. 10 Carter Gordon is perhaps the most surprising name in the XV as the 22-year-old Melbourne Rebels player, as much of a bright spot as he’s been for the squad since making his Wallabies debut against South Africa less than a month ago in the TRC, gets a major test to prove himself in a massive rivalry with a lot at stake. More familiar names like Jordan Petaia, Andrew Kellaway and Angus Bell will also start alongside acting captain Allan Alaalatoa, earning the honour as Michael Hooper remains inactive with a calf injury that also forced him to miss the Argentina game, and a fervent MCG crowd will attempt to help guide them all to an epic shock. 

Will Australia’s Bledisloe Blues Continue? 

Australia missed out on a golden opportunity to potentially set itself up to claim the Bledisloe Cup for the first time in two decades last year, and it knows it. A controversial first meeting at the Docklands Stadium during the 2022 TRC, in which the All Blacks scored from close range to win 39-37 after the siren after Bernard Foley was called for time-wasting, allowed NZ to retain the cup as holders, which made their second meeting a couple of weeks later at Eden Park (a 40-14 All Blacks thrashing) much less meaningful. But what if the Wallabies won the first match? How would things possibly have played out? Well, as they play Saturday in an imposing, favourable venue — Australia is 2-1 all-time against New Zealand at the MCG — the Wallabies, with a victory that would undoubtedly be a shock to the sport, may have a chance to find out if they can get the All Blacks off-kilter enough to be in serious danger of dropping the Bledisloe for the first time since 2002. Still, New Zealand’s holding of the Bledisloe has been a winning stretch that’s lasted across a generation of international rugby for a reason; defeats to Australia haven’t happened frequently in that time, and if they have, the All Blacks have often roared back in response. Even during the apparent tailspin that New Zealand had to undergo during much of the 2022 campaign, when it dropped to an all-time low of fifth in the World Rugby Rankings and seemingly couldn’t buy a test victory, Foster’s side still retained the Bledisloe without a bunch of fuss. Maybe Jones’ return to the touchline as the last Wallabies coach to hold the Bledisloe may change things and help give Australia’s squad the push it needs to take back the cup, but until further notice, the