Why the Wallabies should rest their best player for opening Bledisloe at Eden Park

October 4, 2026 — 1:45pm

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.

Remove items from your saved list to add more.

There is a booby prize awaiting the winner of the Wallabies-All Blacks pool stage clash at the World Cup next year – a likely quarter-final against the Springboks.

So, beating the All Blacks might not actually serve the Wallabies well at the home tournament in 2027. That said, the momentum starting to build under Kiss would be maintained if the Wallabies can go 1-1 with the All Blacks in the next two weeks.

As tempting as it must be to rush Len Ikitau back from his ankle injury, holding him back until the Sydney test might be the smarter play. A win by the Wallabies at Eden Park would be an extraordinary achievement, but a loss isn’t the end of the world if they can reverse it in Sydney.

With two out of the three Bledisloe Tests set to be in Australia next year, including the Anzac Day fixture in Brisbane, winning back the famous trophy won’t be an unrealistic goal if they get one win across the line in Sydney in a fortnight.

Fitzy’s chat with Kiss chat taps into something valuable

Colleague Peter FitzSimons’ piece with Wallabies coach Les........

© The Sydney Morning Herald