New Zealand vs Australia
Date: Saturday, 30 October, 2010.
Time: 08:30 until 10:30 (GMT)
Competitions: Bledisloe Cup 2010 :: Hong Kong

Bledisloe Cup

Rugby Union's Bledisloe Cup is contested by the Australia national rugby union team and New Zealand national rugby union team. It is named after Lord Bledisloe, the former Governor-General of New Zealand who donated the trophy in 1931.

Once played irregularly every few years, Bledisloe Cup matches now happen annually, and include Tri Nations fixtures between the two sides. Their World Cup fixtures do not count as Bledisloe Cup matches, which were always played in Australia or New Zealand. However, 2008 saw a Bledisloe Cup match held outside the two countries for the first time when the teams met in Hong Kong, and a 2009 Bledisloe Cup match was played in Tokyo.^[1]

The All Blacks represent New Zealand in rugby union, which is regarded as the country's national sport.^[1] They won the inaugural Rugby World Cup, are the leading points scorers of all time and the only international rugby team with a winning record against every test nation they have ever played. They have the highest win ratio of 75 percent and rank as the number one team in the world for the most period of time in IRB World Rankings.^[2] Only 5 of the top 20 ranked rugby union test nations have ever beaten New Zealand in over 100 years of international competition.

The All Blacks compete annually with the Wallabies (Australia) and the Springboks (South Africa) in the Tri-Nations Series, and are currently champions for the tenth time in the tournament's 15-year history. They hold the Bledisloe Cup which they contest annually with Australia, the Freedom Cup annually contested with South Africa and have three times completed a Grand Slam (in 1978, 2005 and 2008) defeating all four Home Nations during one tour.

The number one ranked team in the IRB World Rankings,^[2] they were named the International Rugby Board (IRB) Team of the Year in 2005, 2006 and 2008.^[3] Fifteen former All Blacks have been inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame, one into the IRB Hall of Fame.

The team first competed in 1884 against Cumberland County, New South Wales, and played their first Test match in 1903, a victory against Australia. This was followed by a tour of the northern hemisphere in 1905.

The team's early uniforms consisted of a black jersey with a silver fern and white knickerbockers. By their 1905 tour New Zealand were wearing all black, except for the silver fern, and their All Black name dates from this time. New Zealand traditionally perform a haka (Māori challenge) before each match. Traditionally, the haka performed is Te Rauparaha's Ka Mate, though since 2005, Kapa o Pango, a modified version of the 1924 All Blacks haka, Kia Whaka-ngawari, has occasionally been performed.

Australia national rugby union team

The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the Mandela Challenge Plate with South Africa. Australia are currently ranked second in the IRB World Rankings and hold the Mandela Plate.^[1]

Australia have competed in all six Rugby World Cups, and have won the World Cup on two occasions, in 1991 against England, and in 1999 against France. Australia also lost in the final after extra time to England in the 2003 competition.^[2] Australia are governed by the Australian Rugby Union (ARU). Seven former Australian players have been inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame, with one of those also having been inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame.