Former Manu Samoa No 10 and freelance rugby scribe Campbell Burnes looks back at one of the great unbeaten streaks in the professional game.
By the time you read this, the All Blacks may have extended their unbeaten streak at Eden Park to a scarcely believable 51 Tests.
Or it might be 52 Tests, if they have also beaten Australia for the Bledisloe Cup on September 27. Alternatively, it might have come to a grinding halt at the hands of the Springboks, who had not tasted success there since 1937.
What is it about this ground, this venue, that makes it one of the most intimidating in world sport? If I knew that, then I would probably have a much bigger house. There is a mysterious mystique about the place. It’s New Zealand’s national stadium and opponents must get tired of hearing the same questions from media in the days before they face down the All Blacks at the Garden of Eden. But then they find it hard to bring their A game as the home team invariably lifts there or finds a way to win when not at its best.
The famous defeat to France in 1994 was just the All Blacks’ 10th reverse there since 1921, and it required one of the great team tries – ‘the try from the ends of the earth’ – to seal it for Les Bleus. Just the 1937 Boks and the 1986 Wallabies had won series deciders at Eden Park before that moment, a full year before rugby went professional.
The All Blacks drew 18-all, in insipid fashion, with the Boks in 1994. Then came 38 wins on the bounce until the controversial 15-all draw with the touring Lions in 2017. In truth, the All Blacks were the better team that night, but did not finish off several scoring opportunities. Until 2025, they had reeled off another 11 consecutive victories. The 50th of the streak came against the Pumas last season, the first 40 minutes just about the best half the All Blacks produced in the first year of the Scott ‘Razor’ Robertson era.
The great Auckland team of the 1980s-90s lost just once at Eden Park between 1983 and 1992, when Waikato edged an NPC semifinal, partially thanks to ‘The Hand of Purvey’. That team would see off all comers but could fall back on its peerless scrum, support play, or the boot of Grant Fox if things were going awry. Yours Truly lost just once on the hallowed turf in over 20 games ranging from age grade rep stuff to premier club rugby. The place just had a certain feel to it that meant home teams mostly played very well here.
Eden Park was never the ideal cricket ground, with postage stamp boundaries, and yet some of the great moments in our cricket history have played out here, not to mention three Rugby World Cup triumphs – 1987, 2011 and 2022. While a half-empty Eden Park for rugby does not engender as good an atmosphere as, say, a full Go Media Mt Smart Stadium, anytime Eden Park packs in more than 40,000 is a special time, as you will see (or have seen) when the Boks come to town on September 6 and the Wallabies on September 27.
One day some team will beat the All Blacks here, but they will need an almighty effort and more than just a smidgen of luck, such as striking the home team on a very bad day.
Let us hope that has not come to pass by the time you read this.
