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Wallabies under fire over 'deplorable' scenes in Bledisloe thrashing

adam lucius
Contributor
·4-min read
The Wallabies, pictured here after being humiliated by the All Blacks again in the second Bledisloe Test.
The Wallabies were humiliated by the All Blacks again in the second Bledisloe Test. Image: Getty

Another Bledisloe Cup campaign has ended in disaster and embarrassment, officially marking 20 years of failure, misery and broken promises.

Saturday's deplorable 40-14 loss at Eden Park takes the Wallabies' overall record under Dave Rennie to 11 wins, three draws and 16 losses from 30 matches.

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Australia is now ranked ninth in the world – the worst position this once proud rugby nation has ever occupied.

Rennie's underwhelming record would have most coaches in most sports walking the plank.

Des Hasler, with five grand final appearances and two premierships, is fighting eviction at Manly.

Socceroos boss Graham Arnold needed a Wiggle in gloves to save his bacon after guiding his team through one of the most arduous World Cup qualifying paths of any country.

Justin Langer, with two Ashes series wins, a T20 World Cup victory and a 55 per cent success rate on his resume, was told to hand in his laptop and swipe card.

Rennie? Rugby Australia has guaranteed his job through to next year's World Cup, where further pain and shame is assured given what we've seen on his watch so far.

This side has been dancing the Wallaby Waltz – two steps forward, four steps back before face-planting in front of the judges – throughout Rennie's reign.

Dave Rennie, pictured here after the Wallabies' loss to the All Blacks at Eden Park.
Dave Rennie looks on after the Wallabies' loss to the All Blacks at Eden Park. (Photo by Fiona Goodall/Getty Images)

It was again on display in Auckland as the All Blacks went through the motions to collect another victory without raising a sweat.

Despite all the talk of circling the wagons and using the previous week's controversial defeat as a galvanising force, this was another insipid performance from the men in gold.

And, sadly, all too predictable. You just knew Australia wouldn’t aim up and they delivered on that promise, coughing up the ball 15 times and missing countless tackles.

Some of the decision-making and execution would get you the hook at Shute Shield level, let alone a Test match.

Even the Kiwis looked bored with the routineness of it all.

Wallabies players, pictured here before the Bledisloe Cup match at Eden Park.
Wallabies players look on before the Bledisloe Cup match at Eden Park. (Photo by Fiona Goodall/Getty Images)

Australia's horrific record against the All Blacks

Since we last won the Bledisloe Cup in 2002, the teams have met 61 times for just 10 Australian wins.

If your car started one in six times, you'd wheel it into the local scrapyard.

Yet Australian rugby fans keep showing up to games in massive numbers, surely more out of a sense of duty or the chance to have a bevy in a pub that allows drinking on the footpath.

What keeps them turning up or tuning in on TV to witness defeat after defeat, year after year?

I'm genuinely interested to know because I can't see what they get out of it…unless it's credit points on their PhD in masochism.

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