The All Blacks haka during the third Bledisloe Cup test of 2021. Photo / Photosport
The All Blacks haka during the third Bledisloe Cup test of 2021. Photo / Photosport
OPINION:
There's no doubting that the All Blacks had a little too much Bledisloe Cup in their diet from 2008 to 2021.
For those who care for the detail, the All Blacks played the Wallabies in 43 Bledisloe Cup tests in that period, while the two sides also met inthe 2011 and 2015 World Cups.
It was a lot of exposure to one another, particularly when the best players from both nations were also clashing every other week in Super Rugby.
By 2021, it was clear that New Zealand Rugby felt that it needed to reduce the volume of Bledisloe content in any given season.
The catalysts were three-fold: firstly, the rivalry was losing, or perhaps had lost, any true sense of drama.
Of those 43 tests, the All Blacks won 33, and three were drawn. Only three times in that whole period was the trophy actually live come the final test of the series and those were in World Cup years.
Brodie Retallick and the All Blacks celebrate during the third Bledisloe Cup test last year. Photo / Photosport
It's maybe a little cruel to put it like this, but the Wallabies have only ever been in the fight these past 13 years when the All Blacks have deliberately dropped their guard.
In 2011, 2015 and 2019 the All Blacks were playing around ahead of the World Cup, trying to see who to take and who to leave at home and the Wallabies exploited their vulnerability.
Of the other four tests which the Wallabies won in this period, three were in the final test of a series which the All Blacks had already won.
The second reason NZR went a little cold on the Bledisloe last year was that it was becoming apparent that the open, free-spirit style of these tests was not preparing the All Blacks overly well to face the heavyweight Six Nations sides and South Africa.
The typical Bledisloe encounter was fast, furious and wildly entertaining with both teams bringing high-risk rugby to the table which was at odds with the lower-risk set-piece style that was starting to dominate elsewhere.
And the third reason to be wary of too much Bledisloe was the declining public interest, probably something which was a direct consequence of the All Blacks' domination.
The rugby, superficially at least, was entertaining. Open, fast and fluid but what it had in spectacle it lacked in drama as the script had a predictability to it – which was that the All Blacks would always manage to find a path to victory.
All this meant that when NZR sat down with Rugby Australia last year to discuss the future of the Bledisloe, the former said it didn't want to renew the agreement to play a third test each year.
The Australians were keen, largely because even though the Wallabies have had such a poor time of it in the last two decades, the crowds still turn up in enough numbers to make a bit of cash.
Humiliation may be emotionally tough to endure, but it pays well and the Australians, with their balance sheet splattered in red, will quite happily play additional Bledisloe tests as long as they remain profitable.
But NZR didn't want to carry on with the arrangement where the two sides meet twice in the Rugby Championship and then again later in the year to create a three-test Bledisloe series.
The All Blacks haka during the third Bledisloe Cup test of 2021. Photo / Photosport
Hence there will only be two Bledisloe Cup tests this year and only two in 2023 because it's World Cup year.
What happens after that is intriguing and important because the Bledisloe remains a prized asset and vital part of the rugby calendar in this part of the world, but it needs the right format if it is to re-engage the fans and regain its standing of old.
It sits at the moment like a grand old hotel, revered and loved, famed for its reputation, but ultimately in need of a refurbishment and modernisation.
The whole business of playing Australia needs to feel more tense and suspenseful and even though the All Blacks have had the year from hell so far, they have turned up in Melbourne as strong favourites.
It's a little like Goldilocks in that locking back into a three-test schedule from 2024 feels like too much, but continuing with playing just two each year doesn't feel like enough.
The middle ground might be to agree a schedule where the first year after a World Cup, one country hosts both the Rugby Championship tests and an additional third game.
The year after they revert to playing home and away in the Rugby Championship and then the following year play a three-test series in the country that hasn't yet hosted.
That's a means to build a more compelling narrative and keep strong links with Australia, but not overexpose both nations to one another.
