KEY POINTS:
The All Blacks will extend their current Bledisloe Cup tenure to the second best in its 78-year rugby history if they can win this year's giant series against Australia.
New Zealand are chasing a fifth successive defence, an achievement only bettered by the All Blacks side who owned the famous piece of transtasman silverware from 1951 to 1978.
That mammoth tenure featured 11 defences.
They were also holders from 1936 to 1948 but only had to defend three times because of the intervention of World War Two.
Their current run began when an All Blacks team coached by John Mitchell and assistant Robbie Deans beat Australia 2-0 in 2003, ending a record Wallabies tenure which featured four successful defences.
All Blacks coach Graham Henry pointed to the history and prestige of the Bledisloe Cup this week when trying to sidestep the issue of his own personal clash with Deans - now coach of Australia.
"It's a huge test match, it always is, nothing's changed," Henry said.
The countries will square off a record four times this year, starting on Saturday in Sydney and followed a week later in Auckland.
The third match is in Brisbane on September 13 while the fourth will provide the first neutral venue in 78 years of Bledisloe Cup action, when the teams meet in Hong Kong on November 1.
As holders, the All Blacks need only win two of the matches to get New Zealand engraved for a 37th time compared to Australia's 12.
History of Bledisloe Cup tenures:
1931-33: New Zealand (3 years)
1934-35: Australia (2)
1936-48: New Zealand (13)
1949-50: Australia (2)
1951-78: New Zealand (28)
1979-81: Australia (3)
1982-85: New Zealand (4)
1986: Australia (1)
1987-91: New Zealand (5)
1992: Australia (1)
1993: New Zealand (1)
1994: Australia (1)
1995-97: New Zealand (3)
1998-2002: Australia (5)
2003-: New Zealand (5)
Total years Bledisloe Cup held: NZ 62 Australia 15
- NZPA
