Annual Siege Of Rugby’s Minas Tirith Begins In Auckland

ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact

The Wallabies return to Eden Park on Saturday for their annual Test against the All Blacks, still chasing a first win at the ground since 1986.

For Australians, the Auckland venue has become rugby’s Minas Tirith. Tolkien’s White City, carved into a mountain and encircled by seven mighty walls. It was at Minas Tirith that the Battle of the Pelennor Fields was fought, where orcs, trolls and war-elephants laid siege until Rohan’s cavalry and Aragorn’s ghostly host arrived to turn the tide. Like Gondor’s foes, New Zealand’s opponents have long discovered that this fortress rarely falls.

Still, the Wallabies come. Their persistence recalls the story of Robert the Bruce, who watched a spider fail again and again to spin its web before finally succeeding. The moral was clear. Keep trying until you win. For Australia, every annual trip across the Tasman is another climb up that impossible thread.

To supporters, the pilgrimage is as gallant, albeit more soaked in piss, as Simpson and his donkey at Gallipoli, tending to the wounded under relentless fire. Kickoff is set for 3:05 p.m. Eastern Normal Time, as the Wallabies once more attempt to storm rugby’s White City.

More to come.