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Opinionated Rugby Commentary - by Fans for Fans
Spill what you really think about events in the rugby world.
All Blacks Turn 500 Test Matches - Best Test Match 9 views
15 June 2013 by The Swede Eaters
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The All Blacks play their 500th test tonight against France, what are your highlights?
The New Zealand All Blacks play their 500th test match when they play France tonight in Christchurch.
Christchurch will host the All Blacks' 500th test match, with their first test dating back to August 15th, 1903, when they beat Australia in Sydney. As far as milestone test matches go, the All Blacks lost their 100th against the Lions in 1959, but have gone on to win their 200th (v Australia, 1982), 300th (v South Africa, 1996) and 400th (v Australia, 2005).
This will be just the second outing for the All Blacks in Christchurch's AMI Stadium, last year's test against Ireland went down to the wire when they won 22-19 thanks to a Dan Carter drop goal. It has been 10 years since France played in Christchurch, with the All Blacks winning that test 31-23.
The All Blacks have won 377 of their 499 tests (76 percent), and in the process have clocked up 13,057 points (an average of 26 points per test) and conceded just 6,344 (12.7 points per test). They are also the highest try scorers in test match history with a total of 1706.
I have attended almost 20 All Blacks test matches with my first test match in 1994 at Carisbrook, Dunedin against the Springboks. Being on the terraces amongst the university scarfies at a packed Carisbrook makes all crowds now seem civilised and relaxed. That was a steep learning curve! Back in the 1990s there were less games and so as a fan each game had more meaning! This was probably my favourite era, around the mid to late 1990s. Favourite All Black Jeff Wilson.
The most significant match I have attended was the Rugby World Cup 2011 final at Eden Park in Auckland. This must be the number one All Blacks test win of all time given the pressure on the All Blacks to win the William Webb Ellis Trophy for the first time in 24 years. Ironically it was probably one of their less impressive performances. The 1987 Rugby World Cup win also against France at Eden Park was also huge, but I think the Rugby World Cup wasn't the big deal it is now!
I have been to some really entertaining matches including the 1997 All Blacks vs Wallabies match at Carisbrook where Christian Cullen scored a great try and the All Blacks won 36-24 after being 36-0 up at halftime. I had money on the All Blacks by 12 and under, so the Wallabies comeback was welcome relief!
The All Blacks win over the Springboks in 2005 in Dunedin was also entertaining to be at. A late Keven Mealamu try gave the All Blacks a 31-27 win. We also thrashed the British Lions in 2005 in a dominant display in the three test series, I didn't attend the tests unfortunately.
I have only seen the All Blacks lose once and that was at Carisbrook, Dunedin when the Wallabies beat the All Blacks 23-15 in 2001. That is when Ron Cribb gave away a penalty try.
The 1996 Incomparables All Blacks team to win a test series in South Africa will probably be in the top five All Blacks moments over the last 110 years. Who can forget that Zinzan Brooke dropped goal?
This Bledisloe Cup win in 2000 named "The Greatest Game of Rugby Ever Played" was epic and that try to Jonah Lomu was such a relief after the great start the All Blacks made.
Looking back
The All Blacks have had some amazing test victories over the past 499 test matches. They beat Australia 22-3 in 1903 and their first loss was to Wales in 1905 with the Originals and that Bob Deans disallowed try. They first beat Springboks in 1921 in Dunedin which some would suggest was an important victory although they drew that series.
The All Blacks had some lean years too and the 1956 series win over the Springboks will go down as a watershed moment as our first series win over South Africa our biggest rivals.
The 1978 Grand Slam win over the home nations will go down as something worthy of mentioning. The 13-12 win over Wales could be considered one of the more important victories the All Blacks have had although it was won after All Blacks lock Andy Haden jumped out of a lineout to earn a penalty.
There have also been some controversial tests involving the All Blacks including the 1976 tour to South Africa and the return Springboks tour to New Zealand in 1981 and the "flour bomb" test in Auckland.
The All Blacks struggled against the 1971 British Lions, which is probably one of the best ever teams to tour New Zealand.
What do you think is the best or most important All Blacks test match of all time? Happy Birthday All Blacks!
http://www.superrugbytips.com/2013/06/all-blacks-play-500th-test-match-which.html
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