17 All Blacks will defend an INSANE record against England that started before they were BORN!
England will be out to end the All Blacks' 30-year unbeaten run at Eden Park.
The All Blacks will be looking to clinch a 2-0 series victory over England at Eden Park on Saturday and will be determined to uphold a record that predates most of the players’ birth.
Remarkably, only six of the 23 players named in Scott Robertson’s matchday squad were born when the record started.
This is, of course, the All Blacks’ unbeaten run at their spiritual fortress, Eden Park.
All Blacks’ Eden Park record
Robertson heads into his first Test match in charge of the All Blacks at their Auckland stronghold wary of becoming the first head coach to lose at the sacred ground since Laurie Mains in 1994.
John Hart, Wayne Smith, John Mitchell, Graham Henry, Steve Hansen and Ian Foster all won every single Test match that they took charge of at the venue during their tenures.
The All Blacks have won 46 of their last 46 Tests at Eden Park, drawing twice, in a run that stretches back to 1994.
In numbers: The All Blacks’ INSANE unbeaten run at Eden Park since 1994
This means that 17 of the 23 All Blacks set to do duty against England on Saturday weren’t even born when New Zealand famously lost 23-20 to France.
And even those who were born then are unlikely to even remember the game, with hooker Codie Taylor and replacement Beauden Barrett both being just three years old at the time.
Ofa Tu’ungafasi was just two years old, Patrick Tuipulotu was one, and Ardie Savea and captain Scott Barrett were both just six months old.
The remainder of the team, Ethan de Groot, Tyrel Lomax, Samipeni Finau, Dalton Papali’i, Finlay Christie, Damian McKenzie, Mark Tele’a, Jordie Barrett, Rikeo Ioane, Sevu Reece, Stephen Perofeta, Asafo Aumua, Fletcher Newell, Tupou Va’i, Luke Jacobson, Cortez Ratima and Anton Lienert-Brown were not yet born the last time that New Zealand lost at Eden Park.
Even more remarkably, two father-son combinations have even defended the record. That is the case with Todd and Ethan Blackadder, as well as Eroni and Caleb Clarke.
All Blacks’ ‘spiritual home’
“It is our spiritual home, it is our fortress,” All Blacks great Ian Jones told the BBC Rugby Union Daily podcast.
“And when you think of it as your fortress, you protect your fortress with all your might.
“The All Blacks jersey lifted you anyway, but you absolutely knew the expectation to play with all your heart and to not lose at Eden Park.
“And because of that history, you feel bulletproof.”
