For Rob Horne the memory is not a scar, but it is certainly deep rooted – when he first played for the Wallabies in a Test against the All Blacks at Eden Park in Auckland.
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It was October 16, 2011, in the World Cup semi-final. The All Blacks were leading 17-6 after he came on at the 62nd minute for Anthony Fainga’a at outside centre.
Horne’s eighth Test ended as he sensed, with the Wallabies losing 20-6 and left to play for – and win – third place, while the All Blacks went on to beat France in the final.
Horne, who is now 25 and has 17 Test caps, today recalls that night as an "incredible rugby memory" that showed the greatness of the All Blacks.
"Heading into that day, they had all the pressure in the world on their shoulders," Horne said.
“I got on in the last 20 [minutes] and to experience their intensity, to feel their presence as a whole team …
"I could tell that these guys are going to do it – [that] they are going to go on and win the thing because they definitely had it that day and the next week.”
It was a scenario Horne last experienced at the same venue on August 25, 2012, when Australia lost 22-0, and has lost in four of the five times he has played the All Blacks.
The one difference from his experiences playing the All Blacks was last Saturday's rain-soaked 12-12 draw at ANZ Stadium in Sydney in which he played on the wing. Horne did not play in the Wallabies side that drew 18-18 in Brisbane in 2012.
After being so close to beating the All Blacks in Saturday's game where the Wallabies squandered several opportunities, is there a difference between the World No. 1 ranked side now compared with the one he faced in the 2011 World Cup?
“It’s hard to compare,” Horne said on Monday before he and the Wallabies began their preparations for Saturday’s second Bledisloe Cup clash back at Eden Park.
“In the World Cup, the environment is different. This Bledisloe series is something we as a group targeted and feel – with the momentum out of the French series – we have a lot of our patterns with this same group. We are feeling quite good about that.”
Asked if there is now a stronger belief among the Wallabies that they can beat the All Blacks, even at Eden Park where Australia last won in 1986, Horne said: “There is always a belief there. We are born in Australia to believe that we can beat the All Blacks.
"At the end of the day they are the best team in the world, and have been the best team in the world for a very long period of time. You don’t do that just by turning up. You do that by continuing to be consistent.
“And if we are to get where we want to be, we also need to be as consistent as that.
“[On Saturday] we produced a lot with the footy, created a lot of opportunities. In the wet it is a bit tougher to score tries, but it’s there and you’ll see it on the weekend.”
