The All Blacks can wrap up the 2020 Bledisloe Cup on Australian soil this Saturday as they meet the Wallabies at ANZ Stadium. Can the Wallabies find a way of stopping the mighty All Blacks? We'll find out on Saturday night. See our full preview and betting tips for the clash below.
Australia vs New Zealand
ANZ Stadium, 7:45pm Saturday
After a spirited 16-16 draw in Game 1 of the Bledisloe Cup, the Wallabies took a step back in the Game 2, 27-7 loss at Eden Park. Sure, the Wallabies have an awful record at Eden Park but their tackling in particular was absolutely terrible. Overall, they missed 42 tackles and the All Blacks easily took full advantage with the ball in hand. So hopefully the week off has benefited this team on the training track, otherwise the All Blacks will cruise to victory again. To make matters worse, Matt Toomua is out for the season with a groin injury. So it'll be interesting to see what changes Dave Rennie will make to this team for Saturday's clash.
The All Blacks were back to their clinical best at Eden Park in Game 2 of this series as they crushed the Wallabies mediocre defence. Caleb Clarke was especially good in his first test match start (123 run metres / 14 defenders beaten) and the return of the Barrett combination was one of the keys in the 27-7 result. While they have struggled to beat the Wallabies in Australia recently, they do have a 3-0 record at ANZ Stadium and should be quietly confident of continuing that record on Saturday night.
The Stats
The All Blacks are 3-0 at ANZ Stadium since 2016. In those 3 test matches, they’ve outscored Australia 134-55. In last week’s clash at Eden Park, the Wallabies missed 42 tackles but improved their lineout success rate (from 77% to 92%). Exciting All Blacks winger Caleb Clarke made a huge impression in his first start, gaining 123 metres and beating 14 tackles. Beauden Barrett returned from injury with 96 run metres and he also recorded 2 clean breaks / 7 broken tackles.
Verdict
The line has come in for the Wallabies as they take home-field advantage into Game 3 as the All Blacks start around 8.5 favourites. Considering the All Blacks record at ANZ Stadium, we feel the Kiwis will be very tough to beat once again. Overall in the last 3 meetings in Sydney, the All Blacks have won 38-13, 54-34 and 42-8. The problem for the Wallabies in Game 2 was missed tackles and injuries. So unless they've fixed those problems in the last week or so at training, it's hard to see the All Blacks dropping this one.
