Bledisloe Cup: A history of the All Blacks in Melbourne

The All Blacks will take the field in Australia’s sporting capital tonight.

The Melbourne Cricket Ground rarely sees rugby union played on its hallowed turf, but the Australian Rules posts have come down as the Bledisloe Cup is put on the line tonight.

Ardie Savea, who this weekend is taking over as skipper in the absence of Sam Cane, was about as polite as possible when conveying that he did not really know much about the venue’s history.

He did know it was big though, in fact the MCG is the largest stadium in the southern hemisphere.

This weekend two AFL games and the Bledisloe fixture are expected to see a total of 220,000 pass through its gates in total. Just to cement Melbourne’s reputation for supreme sports culture, the highly anticipated FIFA Women’s World Cup fixture between the Matildas and Canada on Monday will draw a sell-out crowd to nearby AAMI Park.

Will Jordan in action during the Rugby Championship test match between the All Blacks and South Africa at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland.
Photo: Alan Lee / Photosport

The All Blacks last played at the MCG in 2007, when Savea had just started at Rongotai College, so he can be forgiven for not having that test locked into his memory banks.

Given that it was a loss and definitely not the 2007 loss that everyone remembers, he is not alone.

The MCG is one of the few grounds in the world where the All Blacks have a losing record, although on current form that should change tonight. But that is not the only place they have played in Melbourne.

1957 was the first time the All Blacks played in the Victorian capital, as all previous tours had been confined to New South Wales and Queensland.

Several more tour games featured over the years in 1968, ’74, ’80, ’84 and ’88, but the first test in Melbourne against the Wallabies was not until 1997.

Spurred on by State of Origin hosting a match there in 1995, which drew a then-record crowd of just under 90,000, the All Blacks arrived during one of the most dominant periods of their history.

Even still, they found themselves up 23-6 at half-time against a Wallaby team that contained the likes of John Eales, George Gregan, Jason Little and Matt Burke. Jeff Wilson scored one of the most memorable tries of his career, outpacing Joe Roff in a 60-metre sprint to the line and then pulling a face suggesting he had surprised even himself.

But the eventual 33-18 win in front of 91,000 fans stands as the first and last time the All Blacks have won at the MCG.

During the Annus horribilis of 1998 it was the scene of the first of five losses in a row for the All Blacks, when they were well beaten 24-16 after being held to just a Carlos Spencer penalty goal in the second half.

Joeli Vidiri played his second and final test, Jonah Lomu came off the bench to replace him and sadly both men have since passed away.

The 2007 loss was in part due to the Wallabies cashing in on Carl Hayman being sin binned late in the game, with Adam Ashley-Cooper and Scott Staniforth crossing the line to seal a 20-15 Wallaby win. The All Blacks went on to lose to France in the World Cup quarterfinals that year.

But while the MCG record is something the All Blacks want to change; they have had better luck across town at Marvel Stadium.

It was a World Cup venue in 2003, so the All Blacks recorded comfortable wins over Italy, Canada and then the Springboks in a quarterfinal that featured Spencer throwing a pass through his legs to set up Joe Rokocoko to score.

They also thumped the Wallabies there in 2010 and managed to get out of jail last year with a bit of help from referee Mathieu Raynal.

There is one All Black who will be keen to rectify his reputation at the MCG tonight, though.

Jordie Barrett was famously ejected from the ground during 2019’s Boxing Day test while there supporting the Black Caps, so while him getting a yellow or red card would make for a funny headline, it is far more likely he will be continuing his good form that he has shown so far in 2023.