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Rugby Union's Bledisloe Cup is contested between Australia's Wallabies and New Zealand's All Blacks. It is named for Lord Bledisloe, the Governor-General of New Zealand who donated the trophy in 1931. If the All Blacks and Wallabies play each other in a non-Tri Nations game (e.g. they are drawn to play each other at a World Cup), the Bledisloe Cup is not on offer.

There is some dispute as to when the first Bledisloe Cup match was first played. The Australian Rugby Union contend that the one-off 1931 match played at Eden Park was first. However, no firm evidence has been produced to support this claim, and the New Zealand Rugby Football Union believe that the first match was when New Zealand toured Australia in 1932.

Between 1931 and 1981 it was contested irregularly in the course of rugby tours between the two countries. New Zealand won it 19 times and Australia four times in this period. In the years 1982 to 1995 it was contested annually, sometimes as a series of three matches and other times in a single match. During these years New Zealand won it 11 times and Australia three times.

Since 1996 the cup has been contested as part of the annual Tri Nations tournament. Until 1998 the cup was contested in a three match series: the two Tri Nations matches between these sides and a third match. New Zealand won these series in 1996 and 1997, and Australia won it in 1998.

From 1999 through 2005, the third match was not played; during those years, Australia and New Zealand played each other twice as part of the Tri Nations for the cup. If both teams won one of these games, or if both games were drawn, the cup was retained by its current holder. The non-holder had to win the two games 2-0 or 1-0 (with a draw) to regain the Cup. A criticism of this system was that with the closeness in the level of ability between the two sides, years where each team won one game each were very common (1999, 2000, 2002, 2004) and in these years, many rugby fans felt dissatisfied with one team keeping the cup in a series tied at 1-1. In 2000, the Bledisloe was retained by Australia when John Eales kicked a goal from the sideline in the final moments of the match. Another one of the most dramatic matches was played on September 1 of 2001 at Stadium Australia, in what would be Wallaby great John Eales' last ever test. Australians were hoping to send their skipper off in a grand style. A fairy tale ending was looking right in the first half when the Wallabies held a solid 19 to six lead over the All Blacks. However, tries to Doug Howlett and Pita Alatini, along with Andrew Mehrtens kicking, saw the All Blacks back in front 26 to 22. However in the dying moments of the game no.8 Toutai Kefu scored the winning try for Australia.

From 2006 onwards, the Bledisloe Cup will again be played for over a 3 match series, as the Tri Nations has been lengthened so that each participating nation plays the others three times instead of twice. This will ensure that in most seasons, a clear winner of the Bledisloe Cup will be found.

Records:

Longest Time Held By Australia: 5 years (1998-2002) Longest Time Held By New Zealand: 28 years (1951-1978)

Year	Winner/Holder	Matches won by Australia	Matches drawn	Matches won by New Zealand
1932	New Zealand	1	0	2
1934	Australia	1	1	0
1936	New Zealand	0	0	2
1938	New Zealand	0	0	3
1946	New Zealand	0	0	2
1947	New Zealand	0	0	2
1949	Australia	2	0	0
1951	New Zealand	0	0	3
1952	New Zealand	1	0	1
1955	New Zealand	1	0	2
1957	New Zealand	0	0	2
1958	New Zealand	1	0	2
1962	New Zealand	0	1	4
1964	New Zealand	1	0	2
1967	New Zealand	0	0	1
1968	New Zealand	0	0	2
1972	New Zealand	0	0	3
1974	New Zealand	0	1	2
1978	New Zealand	1	0	2
1979	Australia	1	0	0
1980	Australia	2	0	1
1982	New Zealand	1	0	2
1984	New Zealand	1	0	2
1985	New Zealand	0	0	1
1986	Australia	2	0	1
1987	New Zealand	0	0	1
1988	New Zealand	0	1	2
1989	New Zealand	0	0	1
1990	New Zealand	1	0	2
1991	New Zealand	1	0	1
1992	Australia	2	0	1
1993	New Zealand	0	0	1
1994	Australia	1	0	0
1995	New Zealand	0	0	2
1996	New Zealand	0	0	2
1997	New Zealand	0	0	2
1998	Australia	3	0	0
1999	Australia (holds)	1	0	1
2000	Australia (holds)	1	0	1
2001	Australia	2	0	0
2002	Australia (holds)	1	0	1
2003	New Zealand	0	0	2
2004	New Zealand (holds)	1	0	1
2005	New Zealand	0	0	2
2006	New Zealand	0	0	3
Totals		30	4	70

• Bledisloe Cup on rugby.com.au

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