Australia and New Zealand are very close neighbors and it is just a hop step and a jump from one coast to the other but their supposedly close relationship ends there and when they do meet on the Rugby playing fields wherever that may be it is hell to pay for the players as well as those supporting each team.
No quarter is given neither is it taken or asked for as everything that has been bottled up inside would see the light of day when the Wallabies and the All Blacks meet in the Rugby arena.
It is superlative Rugby that these two teams are famous for and have been sharing the “Rugby World Cup” played since 1987 on five occasions out of the eight, with the All Blacks laying claim to it thrice and the Wallabies taking it home twice.
The All Blacks won it the inaugural year in 1987, 2011 and 2015, whilst the Australians won it in 1991 and again in 1999, which shows the combined strength of these two adversaries where other Rugby playing countries have had no answer to their prowess in the Rugby fields.
The Rugby development structures in both the countries are at optimum efficiency and within their two boundaries, Rugby is a very popular sport with New Zealand taking it a step further as their national sport and building its popularity around it.
The young boys and girls too, are obsessed with the game of Rugby in New Zealand and it is more or so with their heroes the All Blacks keeping their flag flying with some superlative performances in the recent past.
The same cannot be said of Australia as their Rugby structure though also in the same mould as New Zealand the interests of the younger generation is divided between other popular sports too.
In the case of New Zealand their style of Rugby has been embedded in their genes and it is why they have such a small population of just 4.693 million and have been a force to reckon with on the World Rugby platform.
New Zealand has perennially dished out fast paced open Rugby where they have profitably used their knack to handle the oblong ball with great finesse, and their speed of play has been what they have used to intimidate their opponents.
On the other hand Australia play a more robust type of Rugby and try to depend on brute strength which has been their undoing and though they win many matches, lack the charisma and finesse around which the All Blacks associate themselves.
When these two neighbors meet it is a totally different style of Rugby that we would see, the All Blacks with a lot of finesse and style while the Australians playing with more gusto and dependence on their strength.
The “Rugby World Cup 2019” to be held in Japan should be quite a bone crusher when these two teams eventually meet on the green which they would do at some time in the tournament and the spectators would be in for a treat.
