Thursday, August 20, 2009
All Blacks thump the Wallabies in Wellington 1996
They had 11 members of their World Cup Final side from the previous year, including Andrew Mehrtens who was on his way to notching up the fastest 200 points in Test history.
They also had a young fullback by the name of Christian Cullen, who was just 20 at the time, and playing only his fourth Test, but his first against Australia.
David Campese on the other hand, was on the wing for the Wallabies, with 96 Test caps as he head towards reaching the milestone of 100.
Wellington's Athletic Park was wet and windy on the day, but the All Blacks came out firing as they took the Wallabies by surprise with their tactic of running the ball with such a wet field underfoot.
They dominated with a six try thumping of the Aussies, winning the match 43-6, retaining the Bledisloe Cup then going on to win that years Tri Nations.
Classic Encounters - Australia vs New Zealand 1996 (second test)
Matthew Burke's famous 80m try from 1996
Posted at 1:44 pm | 16 comments
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Viewing 16 comments
jente August 20, 2009 1:16 pm

And there are 2 scrums shown in the vid. Why the hell is the all black nr8 pushing both times between his left lock and flanker in stead of pushing between both locks?????
jente August 20, 2009 1:18 pm

Anonymous August 20, 2009 2:13 pm

Anonymous August 20, 2009 2:13 pm

Dave August 20, 2009 2:50 pm

Cullen too - what a legend.
Scandal August 20, 2009 3:04 pm

To this day I consder that team the best XV the All Blacks have ever fielded. Legends from 1 through to 15.
I could watch that match over and over and over again.
Jonathan August 20, 2009 3:47 pm

Anonymous August 20, 2009 5:23 pm

Random August 21, 2009 12:01 am

FrankyH August 21, 2009 5:42 am

Looks like the match might have been stopped early because of the weather? Or perhaps just a discrepancy between the refs watch and the tv clock.
Anonymous August 21, 2009 3:00 pm

Anonymous August 21, 2009 5:30 pm

Maybe Joost VDW might have got in for Marshall at 9 and Stransky at 10 for Mehrtens?
Anonymous August 21, 2009 8:34 pm

Anonymous August 22, 2009 12:32 am

Absolute legends. After a while you sort of forget all the great players until you see clips like this. I was watching the clip and enjoying watching Jones and Brooke and then up pops Kronfeld, - jesus H - does it get any better.
Nostalgic Chris August 26, 2009 3:51 am

"Brooke, Marshall, Merhtons, Lomu, Cullen" 5 standout legends in possibly the best team to ever step out on a pitch (when compared to the opponents quality at the time)
Looking at this tho you do yearn somewhat for the days before professionalism. When attacking skill outweighed physical and defensive prowess.
I love some of the things the pro era has brought about but if you compare this to say last weeks bledislow cup, having massive, expertly conditioned and "grown" players doesn't equal great rugby. I miss moves that were born of knowing missed tackles would happen, and players not fearing injury from a tackle from 6 foot 6 forward men who can run 100m in under 11.3 seconds. Even saying that makes you just want to boot the thing out of hand rather then take a chance.
Sorry, i'm a boring old fart it would seem :D
Dan August 26, 2009 9:32 pm

mike jones, ian jones, fitzy, best team eva.















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