Simon says: Beware, my Kiwi brothers

The four tries by Greg Cornelsen won the game for a "no chance" Wallabies team in 1978. File picture

The photograph was a bit grainy. It had been taken on a cellphone and reproduced in a Sydney newspaper with readers asked to identify the person.

Clues were limited about the mystery spectator, rugged up against the wicked weather in Christchurch as he watched the opening test of the All Blacks test series against the Lions.

The figure was clad in an All Black beanie and covered in a black garbage bag to ward off the winter rain and chill as he sat in the terraces.

No newspaper reader recognised Simon Poidevin, the man nicknamed "The King" in Australian rugby circles.

The legendary Wallabies flanker had been in New Zealand on business and decided to take in the test, which was won 21-3 by the All Blacks.

"Of course I support the Wallabies every time," he said yesterday, "but when they are not playing it has to be the All Blacks. They are my Kiwi brothers.

"I felt very comfortable wearing their strip that night, showing my support, even though a lot of people asked me what I was doing.

"My respect for New Zealand and All Black rugby is very deep. It goes back to the days when I used to do battle with those blokes. It was always a huge game but afterwards there was a massive amount of respect for each other and to this day I remain good friends with [Mark] 'Cowboy' Shaw, AJ Whetton, Buck Shelford, Murray Mexted and Michael Jones."

Poidevin will not be at Eden Park tomorrow; work and family commitments have prevented him from watching live the final Tri-Nations contest between the All Blacks and Wallabies. But his admiration for transtasman rugby duels continues.

Poidevin played the All Blacks 21 times in his illustrious international career in the 80s and 90s. The courageous loose forward was part of Wallaby sides which earned eight wins and a draw in those fearsome contests.

His sweetest moment came in 1986, at Eden Park, when the Wallabies rampaged to a 22-9 victory to claim the Bledisloe Cup series, and Poidevin later claimed he could live life in peace.

The Wallabies arrive tomorrow at Eden Park as underdogs. They cannot win the Bledisloe Cup but they can repel some of the criticism and restore their self-belief after taking a hammering on the field.

Only four times since Eden Park hostilities commenced between the All Blacks and Wallabies in 1931, have the visitors won. They triumphed in 1949 when the senior All Blacks were on tour in South Africa and in a tight match in 1955; they won on the back of Greg Cornelsen's four tries in 1978 and again in 1986.

The last six times the Wallabies have played at Eden Park, they have been beaten. But coach Eddie Jones and especially embattled skipper George Gregan would swap all those defeats to hear words tomorrow like the current selector Sir Brian Lochore delivered to the Wallabies in 1986.

As Poidevin recalled, Lochore was then the vanquished All Black coach who walked into a euphoric Australian dressing shed.

"This was akin to Rommel suddenly appearing in the doorway of Monty's headquarters at El Alamein," Poidevin wrote in his For Love Not Money autobiography.

"But Brian's big in humility as well as size. The noise quietened at his presence. Then choosing his words carefully, he warmly congratulated Australia on the way they had played. Lochore had been my coach during the International Rugby Board centenary matches earlier that year in Britain and I had come to know and respect him as a great coach and a fantastic person.

"As Brian spoke I could see the great sadness in his eyes and I felt very sorry for him, for it was only the fourth time this century the All Blacks had lost a series at home and he was going to have to bear the brunt of that humiliation."

If the All Blacks are sat on their rump tomorrow there will be a similar nationwide feeling. The Wallabies remain a classy side but they have been savaged by injury, they are under the pump for four straight defeats, they are playing away from home against a settled All Black side.

It may be a bit like the early part of 1986 when the Baby Blacks responded so well in the absence of the Cavaliers before they returned and were beaten by the Wallabies.

Or that famous day in September 1978 at Eden Park when bearded backrower Cornelsen scored his first four tries in test rugby in one afternoon.

Coincidentally, Cornelsen was in Auckland yesterday on business and unable to stay for the test as he had further meetings in Brisbane.

On that 1978 visit, the Wallabies had lost their first two tests before coach Daryl Haberecht suffered a heart attack. The tourists had not beaten the All Blacks since 1964. Like tomorrow, they were "no chance".

Aussie broadcaster and frontrower that day Chris "Buddha" Handy recalled that in the absence of their coach, manager Ross Turnbull turned up the wick on the forwards.

"Look, those Phantom comic-swappers and Mintie-eaters, those blond-headed flyweights [backs] are one thing and we will need them after the work's done. But the real stuff's got to be done here by you blokes."

That same pressure and more goes on the Wallaby pack this weekend. The side has backs to burn but there are doubts about the backbone in the tight five. Can they scrum consistently, do they have the power to create lethal turnovers or slow the All Black momentum at the breakdowns?

Poidevin was impressed with the All Blacks last week in Dunedin and was in raptures about the whole game. "I think it was the hardest game I have seen in my life," he said. "There was just no place to hide.

"The Wallabies will have a real go this test. They are clearly unpredictable but if they click the All Black defence will have to be good. However, this All Black side is something special.

"The Wallabies have mobile, aggressive loosies and that will make it very interesting but I don't think anyone has come close to Richie McCaw this season."

Men in black notch up 400th test

* It is appropriate that the All Blacks' 400th test tomorrow should be against their most familiar rivals and at their most frequented venue.

* The milestone is reached against Australia, who New Zealand have played 122 times - nearly a third of their total tests - and at Eden Park, where they have played more tests than any other ground.

* The 57-test tally there eclipses Jade Stadium, Christchurch (formerly Lancaster Park), on 43, and Athletic Park, Wellington, 42.

* The All Blacks have also been successful on Eden Park more than on any other piece of turf, notching 45 wins.

* They have won their last 12 tests at the ground, with 11 by more than 10 points. The exception was the 21-17 defeat of the Wallabies when the teams last met at Eden Park in 2003.

* The Wallabies have not won there since 1986, losing on their last six visits.

* The All Blacks' winning percentage has gradually improved to 73 per cent. If they win tomorrow they will have won 77 of their last 100 tests, matching the figure from their previous 100, from 1982-96.

* New Zealand's 399-test total lags well behind France, who lead the way on 595.