What a stinker: The most boring Bledisloe Cup test of all time

The All Blacks and Wallabies will meet for the 163rd time when they clash at Eden Park tomorrow night.

Many of their past encounters have been classic matches. The Sydney clash in 2000 when Jonah Lomu scored in the final seconds, John Eales' winning penalty kick three weeks later at Westpac Stadium and last year's thriller in Dunedin to name just a few.

If you want a more positive spin ahead of tomorrow - then you can read about the best Bledisloe Cup clashes here.

But there have also been some stinkers. The worst of the bunch in more recent memory took place at the same turf that will host tomorrow's game.

The Herald looks back on All Blacks 6 Wallabies 3 - aka the most boring Bledisloe Cup clash .

In 1991, Australia's losing streak at Eden Park was only five years old but they came to Auckland full of confidence having won their previous two tests against New Zealand including a 21-14 victory in Sydney two weeks earlier.

Bernie McCahill replaced Walter Little in the lineup while Michael Jones, arguably the best seven in the game, was moved to blindslide flanker with Mark Carter handed his debut at openside.

Blame the ball?

The test never really got going, with a lot of the blame being placed on the Adidas ball.

All Blacks number 10 Grant Fox and his opposite Michael Lynagh struggled all game to get the ball on target, however that didn't stop them from continuing to line up shots.

According to Men in Black, Craig Innes went close to the line in the first half while John Kirwan made a break in the second half. That seemed to be it.

Memories can get hazy, especially considering I watched this game a week before my ninth birthday, but I distinctly remember watching this test while attending a Scouts camp - or to be more accurate a sleepover at the Taradale Scouts hall. While some kids were learning to start a fire with bits of wood, the majority were watching the test match.

The frequency with which the All Blacks met the Wallabies wasn't as high as it is today. But that didn't stop a number of young viewers attentions' quickly start to dwindle as even watching people attempt to make fire became more enjoyable than shot after shot at goal going wide.

Nude intervention

The biggest highlight of the game was two female streakers who took to the field in the second half.

There was some excitement near the ending as the All Blacks held onto a slim lead and earned a hard fought victory without scoring a try. But it was a hard watch to get to that. In total - Zero tries, eight missed penalties, two missed drop goals.

Here's the basic highlights of the game:
Fox penalty attempt - missed
Fox drop goal attempt - missed
Fox penalty attempt - missed
Fox penalty attempt - made it!!!!
Lynagh penalty attempt - missed
Lynagh penalty attempt - missed
Innes tackled short of the tryline.
Halftime - All Blacks 3 Australia 0.
Fox penalty attempt - made it!!!!
Lynagh penalty attempt - missed
Lynagh penalty attempt - missed
Fox penalty attempt - missed
Kirwan line break
Lynagh penalty attempt - made it
Lynagh penalty attempt - missed
Lynagh drop goal attempt - missed
Fulltime - All Blacks 6 Australia 3

What happened next?

Two weeks later the All Blacks played in the Rugby World Cup opener against England, as the defending champions won 18-12 at Twickenham.

The All Blacks and Wallabies met in the semifinals after Lynagh scored a last-minute converted try to deny Ireland a quarter-final victory in Dublin. Once again the All Blacks failed to score a try as Australia crossed over twice through David Campese and Tim Horan to book a spot in the final and win their first World Cup.