Wallabies captain Harry Wilson says his team is ready to defy history by beating New Zealand at Eden Park on Saturday.
The Wallabies haven’t won at the Auckland venue since 1986.
And it’s not just the Australians who have struggled there, with the All Blacks having won 51 consecutive Tests at Eden Park against all opposition.
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“History is all against us, but that’s something which really excites this group,” Wilson said.
“I’ve got so much belief in everyone in our squad. From people playing to the people not playing, we prepare well.
“We owe it to everyone in the squad to go out there to try to do everything we can to win.
“There’s a lot of belief that we can do it. It’s going to be an almighty challenge, which is something we can’t wait for.”
Apart from the chance to end their Eden Park drought, the Wallabies also want to win for veteran prop James Slipper, who will become the first Australian to make 150 Test appearances.
“You’ve got a person like James Slipper playing his 150th game. He’s someone who means so much to every single person in this squad and our staff,” Wilson said.
“In playing such a big milestone game, it definitely adds a little bit more motivation.”
As does maintaining hopes of winning the Rugby Championship and the Bledisloe Cup.
“We’re sitting first in the Rugby Championship. We’d love to get that and then put ourselves in a position to go close to the Bledisloe – there’s plenty of motivation.
“We want to win Test matches. We want to have that winning mindset.”
Both teams taking losing form into the match.
The Wallabies were beaten 28-26 by Argentina in Sydney on September 13, while the All Blacks were thrashed 43-10 by South Africa on the same day in Wellington.
“We had a pretty harsh review when we came in at the start of the week,” Wilson said.
“We’ve prepared well. We know we’re a disciplined team. We’ve made a few lapses in judgment in the last few Tests, but we’ve got to get back to the right way.”
Wilson admitted the loss of powerful back-rower Rob Valetini to a calf injury was a blow.
“When you lose someone like ‘Bobby’, who’s an unbelievable player, it really make everyone know that we have to step up,” he said.
“We really will miss him, but if everyone else steps up and takes those extra few carries and just try to work well as a unit … there’s a lot of belief that we can go out there and do that job.”
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