Bledisloe cup 2000 game 1

Herbert: Knowing that the Olympics was coming and the potential was there to have a world record crowd was great, and the stocks of the Wallabies and All Blacks were pretty high at that stage. We'd had a couple of years of really close battles and, from memory, we had a sense that it was going to be big crowd.

But we didn't really talk too much about it in those days; in the middle of a performance environment the last thing you're thinking about is the crowd.

You hope it's a big crowd, it's good entertainment, but it wasn't something we were talking about. Bray: I think because of the history of the World Cup victory, and people forget the year before in we beat the All Blacks in front of , at Stadium Australia, so we knew the record was going to be broken and that added all the extra anticipation. And just the fact that the All Blacks are the All Blacks, they hate losing, they can't handle losing, we knew that with Jonah Lomu as the human juggernaut, they were going to come out and throw everything at the Wallabies.

But this was the world champion Wallaby team, supposedly No. In one of the most breathtaking starts to a game of Test rugby, the All Blacks scored three tries inside five minutes. Tana Umaga was first to cross, the centre intercepting a Chris Latham pass after the Wallabies fullback had scooped up a partially charged Andrew Mehrtens kick.

Then, almost immediately from the restart, Lomu was into the game as he thundered down the left touchline and popped a ball back inside to Pita Alatini for the All Blacks' second try. Again, virtually from the kick-off, the All Blacks were back on the attack as Alama Ieremia poked his head through the line and offloaded to Pita Alatini, who found fullback Christian Cullen looming up in support.

It was , but it could have easily been , too. Bray: Three tries in the first five minutes, this is crazy, this is surreal. I kept asking myself is this really happening? And my thoughts went back to in Dunedin, when the Wallabies were down at halftime, and then thankfully they came back with 24 unanswered points in the second half, but the pride of Australian rugby, the world champions, basically in those first five minutes were reduced to rubble, it was a real meltdown.

The players were panicking, the defence was in disarray, the only Australian player to touch the ball in the first five minutes was fullback Chris Latham. But it was just horrendous.

You've got to acknowledge the greatness of New Zealand's play and this amazing freak of nature Jonah Lomu on the wing. And what people don't recall is, after about eight minutes, George Gregan was in the last line of defence against Lomu and the score was at that point , and if Gregan hadn't tackled Lomu then it would have been after seven minutes and you would say there is no way back from there. Paul: It was quite interesting because you knew what was being said, even on the bench, you knew what was being spoken about at the time.

And this is what made John Eales such a special leader on the field, his composure. And then also the leaders around underneath him, like George Gregan, but the line that came after we were down , Ealesy said: "We haven't had the ball yet, boys, let's get the ball and we'll use it. Herbert: The script that we were well behind, I think it was after eight minutes, and then we worked our way back.

And New Zealand could score points very very quickly, and we knew that we couldn't score points as quickly, and we just had to stay in the contest and we would eventually grind our way back into it. But it wasn't going to be eight minutes, we wouldn't put on 24 points in eight minutes, we just didn't have that points-scoring ability that they did.

I do remember that huddle [after the third try], I don't exactly know what was said, but we hadn't touched the ball and we came together and said 'guys, we've just got to get our hands on the ball'. Restarting for the fourth time in nine minutes following a Mehrtens penalty, the Wallabies at last got their hands on the ball.

Stephen Larkham stepped off his right foot to break the All Blacks line and then fired a perfect spiral pass to an unmarked Stirling Mortlock. The comeback is on. Mortlock gets his second on 19 minutes after a powerhouse run from Jim Williams before sustained build-up allows Chris Latham to charge onto the ball from close range. When Joe Roff scores the Wallabies' fourth try, the scores are levelled at all.

Bray: The forwards got their act together. The mark of a great team is its composure and I think once they had panicked a little early they regained their composure very quickly.

And it's credit to John Eales and the leaders in the team; David Wilson had actually captained the Wallabies in that win over the All Blacks the previous year. But the forwards got their act together; big Jim Williams was an inspired selection at No. I'd made the comment in the broadcast that we'd never seen a start to a Test match like this and I can also say we've never seen a comeback like we saw that night. For Australia to come back to all at halftime was brilliant.

The game was just oscillating between fantasy and reality, I think, and we were all numb. The Australian crowd was gobsmacked after the start but then we were all on a high when it got to halftime. Herbert: I think the first time we got our hands on the ball we scored as well when Larkham tore through and put Stirling over. All of a sudden it felt like game on and, from memory, Latham stepped up, Stirling again, and before we knew we had a pretty close Test match on our hands.

There was never any panic within that team, certainly through that era when I played of '98 through to around , during that time we just had a very calm team. Never at any stage, in any team, can I remember being rattled, even when we were being beaten soundly. But there was never any panic, it was always just 'this is what we need to do and we can't control everything. We didn't mind teams scoring out wide against us, but it was 'just don't let them come through the middle'; we took that as a bit of a badge of honour.

We had some good leaders obviously in John Eales and George Gregan, and players with experience like Larkham and David Wilson, who'd been around for a while. So it was always a very calm, collected unit, the squad of that era. Paul: The back half of that second half where Bernie [Larkham] slides through and Stirling Mortlock scores a try Roffy was outstanding, too, and Daniel Herbert, who was such a powerhouse back for the Wallabies, his penetration to get us over the advantage line and attract defenders, it was a very experienced side that knew if we could just get the ball we could get back into it.

So going into halftime at all, the conversation was very much boys it's and I was unlucky enough to come on after halftime. Mortlock kicked two penalties either side of a brilliant solo try from Justin Marshall and two Mehrtens penalties.

While only Marshall crossed the line heading into the final 10 minutes, the enterprising play continued, before Gregan eventually answered Marshall's run with a brilliant break himself, setting the stage for Paul to handle twice in quick succession and score out wide.

The Wallabies took the lead, What do you recall about that try on 73 minutes, and did you think that might be enough to get the win so late in the piece?

Paul: George had made a break and he actually passed me the ball in support, I think I got kicked in the head when I was a tackled so I was a bit dizzy. But the play then went back left after George passed it to me and Joe Roff handled there. But it came back to the blind and Rod Kafer threw me an awful ball, I think I picked it up off my bootlaces, but it found me and I just dived over in the corner. I was just s scared that Lomu would be there to be honest.

When you retire they give you a photo of each of the years from your career and one of them for me is the try from this game and my eyes are almost closed with Lomu almost ripping my head off.

There was only one bloke who put fear into you on the rugby field and that was Jonah Lomu. We used to love going back to Billy Young's pub and I remember after that try thinking, 'oh my god, how much p am I going to drink at Billy's pub tonight? Herbert: I can't speak for others but I know my sense was that it wasn't over until he blew the whistle.

Never in any game did I have a sense that we've got this, until the whistle went you are kind of just in the zone. We scored, they scored, we scored, they scored, it was just tit for tat. And I don't think at any stage, I was certainly thinking we've got this or we haven't; it was just okay we've got our noses in front and we better wait for the counter blow because we know it's coming.

With time shrinking down to the final minutes and the All Blacks trailing by one point, Lomu took a pass from Taine Randell, skipped on the outside of Stephen Larkham, tip-toed down the sideline and runs into score the tenth try of the game and the match-winner. The Wallabies are left to lament a couple of key mistakes as the late, great Lomu, added yet another moment to his collection of amazing memories.

New Zealand wins, A lawyer for sixteen years until he inherited his Fathers estate at Cirencester, he held a number of ministerial and public offices within the United Kingdom before his years in New Zealand. The park is well known to the polo playing fraternity as Ruins Polo Ground, a place where Charles the Prince of Wales has played on many occasions.

The name 'Bledisloe' was taken from an ancient name appertaining to the area of the Lydney estate. Charles Bathurst decided that he did not wish to offend the population of any particular area so he used the anglo-saxon name given to the area. The house is a home of Lord Bledisloe, its origins are of Victorian times and is now partly used as a museum containing local artefacts and a collection of items from New Zealand. The park however goes back to the 17th century and is located within the Royal Forest of Dean and known for its gardens and Roman Temple complex.

Lydney Park extends over some eight acres and dates from the 20th century consisting of a woodland garden running through a secluded valley. In the spring a blaze of colour confronts the visitor because the valley is planted with magnolias, rhododendrons and azaleas which dwarf the onlooker; many other flowering shrubs add to its beauty.

A plus to this is the formal gardens and a display of daffodils. Lydney Park Roman Temple was built in the 4th century to Nodens, this followed an earlier Iron Age settlement in the area. Nodens was a Celtic divinity and is mentioned in Irish and Welsh mythology. Many of the artefacts found on this site indicate that Noden had a connection with the sea. A bronze headdress was found which depicted a Sea-god driving a chariot. Numerous finds have proved that the occupation extended into the 5th century, more than coins, a bronze plaque, bracelets plus in excess of pins indicate that it was a wealthy community.

It was in that the prominent archaeologist Sir Mortimer Wheeler examined the site and excavated it with help from the author JRR Tolkien.

Sir Mortimer gained a great deal of TV fame in the s appearing in many programmes of Animal, Vegetable and Mineral, his wealth of knowledge, relaxed charm and wit attracted many viewers. JRR Tolkien is well known for his writings about the Hobbits and it is believed that he had much of his inspiration in writing Hobbiton and the Shire through his work at the temple site.

The area was riddled with tunnels and open cast mines that the landscape was considered to be both mysterious and mystic, so much so that, it was believed that it was occupied by Hobgoblins. Born in South Africa in , he had a brother who was a fruit farmer in the Vale of Evesham and his visits to the area with the views of Bredon Hill also influenced his writing.

Visitors can visit the converted coach house and farm buildings now occupied as a gift shop. With its large picnic area and refreshment facilities Lydney Park provides the ideal place for a relaxing day out.

In size remains the biggest trophy in world rugby. History of the Rugby Union Bledisloe Cup. There is some dispute as to when the first Bledisloe Cup match was first played. However, no firm evidence has been produced to support this claim, and minutes from a New Zealand Union management meeting several days later record Lord Bledisloe wishing to present a cup for the All Blacks and Wallabies to play for. Between and it was contested irregularly in the course of rugby tours between the two countries.

New Zealand won it 19 times and Australia four times in this period. In the years to it was contested annually, sometimes as a series of three matches and other times in a single match. During these years New Zealand won it 11 times and Australia three times. Since the cup has been contested as part of the annual Tri Nations tournament.

Until the cup was contested in a three match series: the two Tri Nations matches between these sides and a third match. New Zealand won these series in and , and Australia won it in From through , the third match was not played; during those years, Australia and New Zealand played each other twice as part of the Tri Nations for the cup. If both teams won one of these games, or if both games were drawn, the cup was retained by its current holder.

The non-holder had to win the two games or with a draw to regain the Cup. A criticism of this system was that with the closeness in the level of ability between the two sides, years where each team won one game each were very common , , , and in these years, many rugby fans felt dissatisfied with one team keeping the cup in a series tied at In , the Bledisloe was retained by Australia when John Eales kicked a goal from the sideline in the final moments of the match.

Another one of the most dramatic matches was played on September 1 of at Stadium Australia, in what would be Wallaby great John Eales' last ever test. Australians were hoping to send their skipper off in a grand style. A fairy tale ending was looking right in the first half when the Wallabies held a solid 19 to six lead over the All Blacks.

However in the dying moments of the game no. From onwards, the Bledisloe Cup will again be played for over a 3 match series, as the Tri Nations has been lengthened so that each participating nation plays the others three times instead of twice. This will ensure that in most seasons, a clear winner of the Bledisloe Cup will be found.

He was born in in Glasgow, at the age of 4years he moved to Bradford where he attended the Bradford Grammar school from The first world war interupted his career and following the ceaseation of hostilities he took up an appointment in as Keeper of Archaeology in National Museum of Wales. He left this position in to take up duties as Keeper of Archaeology in the Museum of London. In he became Director General of the Archaeological survey of India.