Rugby: Nick Farr-Jones questions Wallabies conditioning ahead of second Bledisloe Cup test against All Blacks

Nick Farr-Jones was part of the last Wallabies team to beat the All Blacks at Eden Park. Photo / Photosport

Former Australian rugby captain Nick Farr-Jones has questioned the conditioning of the Wallabies after the side faded in the second half of last weekend's test against the All Blacks.

Farr-Jones, who played 63 matches for the Wallabies from 1984 to 1993, was a part of the last Wallabies side to win against the All Blacks at Eden Park.

Ahead of Saturday's second Bledisloe Cup test at the Auckland venue, the 56-year-old told Radio Sport's D'Arcy Waldegrave the way the Australians played in the second half of last weekend's 38-13 All Blacks win in Sydney was a real concern.

"I just wonder if we're physically up to the battle, let alone mentally," Farr-Jones said. "We all know that to face down the haka and to play 80 minutes of football you've got to be right on your game individually, collectively, mentally, physically and I sometimes doubt that we have the physical capacity at the moment.

"I scratch my head. If this is your day job and you're not absolutely physically prepared to play the game and to strut your stuff in the best way you can, I can't work it out but how else do you explain the tale of the two halves?"

The Wallabies haven't beaten the All Blacks at Eden Park since 1986 and have lost the 17 matches since by an average of 15 points. The All Blacks have only lost against their Australian counterparts five times in the past 10 years.

Farr-Jones admitted it was tough to win against the All Blacks at their Eden Park fortress, but felt like the Wallabies should be putting up more of a fight.

He said the problems within the Australian system more than likely go further than the team, questioning the governance of the game.

"We're a country that have got five times (New Zealand's) population, so we should be able to produce 23 guys who can strut their stuff and play at the best level.

"(New Zealand) is head and shoulders above us because of your governance system and effectively NZR run things from the top, we don't. We have a fractured system over here where it's quite disparate between Super Rugby teams and their boards and the Australian Rugby Union."