Former All Black captain recalls sweetness of win that started reign.
It's been 4379 days since Reuben Thorne took a deep breath and hoisted the 20-odd kilos of the Bledisloe Cup aloft in front of a packed Eden Park crowd.
Four days shy of 12 years, that's how long New Zealand has kept the symbol of transtasman rugby supremacy in itsclutches. Thorne, a Cantabrian who was in the second of his two years as All Blacks captain, has no trouble recalling how it felt to end the Wallabies' five-year Bledisloe reign.
"We were absolutely thrilled to get it back," he said.
Whereas only captain Richie McCaw of the current squad has ever known failure in a Bledisloe series, many of Thorne's contemporaries had grown frustratingly accustomed to defeats.
Thorne, who now coaches a bit in Japan and runs a cafe and landscape architecture business in Christchurch, debuted for the All Blacks in late 1999.
The Bledisloe Cup had been carried off by John Eales' Wallabies a year earlier and it wasn't coming home any time soon.
"Australia were a very strong side back then and we got heart-breakingly close on several occasions, within a point or a last-minute penalty. That was quite often the difference in some of those games," said Thorne.
By 2003, the All Blacks were utterly fed up with losing. Thorne led the team to a record 50-21 thrashing of the Wallabies in Sydney, setting up a potential clincher at Eden Park three weeks later.
"It was down to the wire again but we managed to hold on," Thorne said of the 21-17 victory that secured the cup. "There were a lot of guys in that team who were involved when they lost the Bledisloe Cup and were involved right through those narrow losses. So it was a huge excitement for us when we finally got it back."
And so began what has become the second longest reign in cup history, at least in terms of series played.
If the All Blacks win on Saturday at Eden Park they will tie their 12-series mark, set between 1951 and 1978 - an era when the countries met much less frequently.
Reuben Thorne lifts the Bledisloe Cup in 2003. Photo / Paul Estcourt
Somewhat remarkably, this is just the second time in 12 years the cup has been on the line in a series-deciding match. The last time the Wallabies had a shot at claiming the silverware was in 2007, when they won the first game of the two-match series in Melbourne. The All Blacks won the decider at Eden Park 26-12.
With most of the All Blacks never having known life without the Bledisloe, Thorne wonders whether it means the same as it did to players who toiled for years in pursuit of it.
"It was huge back then. [We] have held it for a while so I'm not sure what the current feeling is. But back then, because we didn't have it, it was hugely important. And there is an awful lot of history behind it, more so than any of the other cups that we play for. We were absolutely thrilled to get it back. I remember talking to guys like Brian Lochore, who had played for it years and years ago, and it was a really important cup for those guys as well.
"The All Blacks are going to be hugely motivated after that loss. You have to take your hats off to the Australians, they played a smart game of rugby and I think it is going to be tough. But the All Blacks at home at Eden Park, not many teams go there and win.
"So hopefully they can do enough to retain it."
Whatever happens, Thorne doesn't believe the result will have a bearing on either team's World Cup prospects.
"It's always nice to go in with a bit of confidence but I don't think it will have too much bearing."
