Aisle be Back: Buckle up for Saturday night

• By Kevin McCarthy 

I’m sure I’m not alone in having anxiety dreams.

Usually they’re about what I do, and how in the dream, I can’t do the job properly no matter how hard I try.

There’s a fair bit of ticking clock stuff going on just to rachet up the tension.

None of this comes to pass in the real world.  But I always figure it’s a good process for the brain.

Occasionally it’s about something else. And lo and behold, last night it was the mega matchup on Saturday at Eden Park. Mixed in with the usual weirdness about time, and failing to work out when the game actually was on – I have you a result. 31-29 to the Boks.

Which is reassuring because that won’t happen in real life. Woo woo aside; there’s a reason some places become fortresses. There’s no magic as such – it’s as they say, the same old green pitch, with the same awkward hodge podge of stands.

A fair swag of this squad may have played only once at Eden Park in a test- although they may have come as the challengers many more times.

So, I think it comes down to the self-reinforcing nature of the streak. No-one knew of Eden Park as a fortress in 1994, the last time the All Blacks lost there in remarkable fashion.

But over time that streak built until someone noticed it. Then it became the myth. Then people bought into that, and myth has hardened into reality. And no matter their inexperience, no new All Black would  want to be part of the side that let the fortress fall.

It stiffens backbones, focuses the mind, gets the team really connecting with that much-bandied legacy word.

And the ones who want to knock that all down? The arch nemesis, the Springboks.

So, no need to hype this one. I remember a Bledisloe series where the All Blacks lost the first – and were under the gun after a shoddy display and muddled game plan. At Eden Park, led by Dan Carter, the team was transformed.  In the first five minutes, they had the Wallabies in a vice, and that was it.  It’s the mindset they’ll need on Saturday.

As for the team, Parker’s shift to No 6 is the most interesting perhaps. Clearly he’s seen as good enough to blood against the Boks and give them problems they haven’t encountered before.

No one will say Reiko Ioane is playing for his place, but you’d have to think he’s been laid down a challenge to make the difference.

As for arguments about whether to turn this into arm wrestle with the Boks, or try to run them off their feet, the only correct answer is all of the above. Last year the All Blacks had the winning of two tests in the Republic but lost the arm wrestle in the second half.  It’s fanciful to think the All Blacks can sidestep that on the path to a win.

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In two milestones for Wellington players, Ardie Savea will play his 100th test and Kyle Preston his first, should he come off the bench.

There won’t be a dry eye in the house if Ardie Savea caps off his 100 th test cap with victory on Saturday night.

I need not say this guy has been a generational star, a huge inspiration for others on and off the field, with a ton of smarts and a ticker that won’t lie down.

One for the pantheon.

Here’s the official stats. Note his win ratio when he starts!

• Savea will become the 15th All Blacks Test centurion and the fourth loose
• forward to reach the milestone.
• He has scored the most Test tries of any All Blacks forward in history, with 30.
• Savea has 74 starts and 72 wins in 99 appearances, a 73% win ratio.
• He has started 52 times in the 8 jersey, 17 times as a 7, and 5 times as a 6.

Savea will join these 14 players on the 100-test list, and become the second player from his club Oriental-Rongotai to achieve this milestone after Ma’a Nonu.

Sam Whitelock (153)

Richie McCaw (148)

Keven Mealamu (132)

Beauden Barrett (130)

Kieran Read (127)

Aaron Smith (125)

Tony Woodcock (118)

Dan Carter (112)

Brodie Retallick (109)

Owen Franks (108)

Ma’a Nonu (103)

Mils Muliana (100)

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How superb was Southland’s boil over shield victory against Waikato. Head downs footy that the shield holders would have been proud off in their heyday.

You wouldn’t bet the cowshed on the Stags repelling Canterbury, but it’s sure to be a bit turnout from the locals.  Fingers crossed they can keep it another week.

As for elsewhere, the  Wellington Lions did the necessary against Auckland on a typically welcoming Porirua day. Sterner stuff to come away against Hawke’s Bay this weekend, and perhaps the season in the balance.