Bledisloe Cup 2023 LIVE updates: Wallabies, All Blacks square off at MCG

The two sides are warming up in the middle of the MCG like 46 fast bowlers preparing to steam in from either end while fans are gradually finishing dinner in the city or Richmond and heading into the game.

There are a lot of seats still to be filled but judging from our my own commute on the train, plenty of fans were heading away from the ground before 6pm and planning to return by game time.

Rugby Australia’s next head of high performance — a job currently being advertised — should be left in no doubt of one thing: never again can the Wallabies head into a Rugby World Cup with the choice at No.10 between a 35-year-old playing in Japan and a 22-year-old coming off his first good Super Rugby campaign.

That’s the context behind Carter Gordon’s selection against the All Blacks at the MCG: it shows expediency on Eddie Jones’ part more than an appetite for risk. In fact, it’s not even his riskiest selection in the 23, with Jordan Petaia’s selection at No.13 off no rugby presenting a greater target for the All Blacks than Gordon, who has been picked to shore up the No.10 channel that Jordie Barrett was going to target with Cooper in the role.

Cooper has done remarkably well to even get himself back on the field for the Rugby Championship after suffering an Achilles injury, but it is an indictment on Australian rugby that a player who started at No.10 in the 2011 Rugby World Cup finds himself in the box seat to do so again a full 12 years later.

And should he or Gordon get injured, the Wallabies are going to have to go deeper into their playing stocks in a way that shows they are an outlier in modern Test rugby.

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The MCG is filling up slowly ahead of the opening Bledisloe Cup and it’s clear, and a relatively mild, winter’s night in Melbourne.

The surface is showing a bit of wear, particularly in the middle of ground. There might be some interesting times during scrums.

Can the Wallabies do it? It’s genuinely hard to predict, given the unfamiliar venue and a team with lots of new faces and rookies dotted throughout.

The head says the All Blacks will be too strong, but the 80,000-strong crowd and the MCG factor may be favourable wrinkle for the Wallabies’ chances.

If New Zealand don’t settle early and start slowly – and scores are still tight after 30 minutes – the Wallabies will grow with confidence. And Eddie Jones has stacked his bench with experience to finish strongly.

With the sting of last year’s controversial post-siren defeat to New Zealand in Melbourne still lingering, the Wallabies say they’re focussed on controlling the opening Bledisloe Cup clash on Saturday and not letting a referee decide another game at the death.

The Wallabies have returned to Melbourne for battle with the All Blacks for the second consecutive year, and though this game will be played at a packed MCG, memories are still fresh of the chaotic final moments in the Bledisloe clash across town at Marvel Stadium last year.

After the Wallabies came from behind to lead late, the hosts won a penalty with 90 seconds on the clock and were setting up to kick for the line and wind the clock down for a win. But amid high drama, French referee Mathieu Raynal decided Wallabies No.10 Bernard Foley took too long to kick and gave the ball back to New Zealand – who scored after the hooter to retain the Bledisloe Cup.

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“There’s nothing better than Australian rugby taking on New Zealand rugby. Because the New Zealanders all think they’re better than us. They always have.”

And we’re away.

The All Blacks delayed their arrival into Melbourne until Thursday night, but the members of the New Zealand press pack who got an earlier flight to throw questions at Eddie Jones weren’t disappointed with their call, as the Wallabies coach indulged in enough Kiwi-baiting to cover most the nightly news back home.

Ahead of his 13th Bledisloe Cup encounter – but first in 18 years – Jones appeared to pick up where he left off, stirring the trans-Tasman pot with enthusiasm.

The smirking Wallabies coach took shots at the New Zealand Rugby Union, the Kiwi media and even the country’s obsession with rugby while answering questions about whether the Wallabies could knock over the All Blacks at the MCG on Saturday.

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G’day everyone and welcome to tonight’s Bledisloe Cup live blog as the Wallabies take on the All Blacks at the MCG.

I’m Roy Ward and I’ll be tapping the keys for the blog so please feel free to leave a comment at any time.

Kickoff is set for 7.45pm AEST.