10:29

To clumsily paraphrase a certain former England footballer, “Rugby’s a simple game. Thirty men chase a ball for 80 minutes and at the end, the All Blacks always win.”

So here we are, at the opening game of this 2018 Rugby Championship, with the all-conquering All Blacks stepping boldly into the Wallabies backyard and looking to deliver the first blow in this year’s Bledisloe series. Is there any point in wasting the next couple of hours of our lives, when the result it so glaringly obvious?

Well, while recent Kiwi dominance over their trans-Tasman rivals needs little explanation – the Wallabies have managed just two wins and two draws in their last 19 Tests against the All Blacks – the last time this pair met, in Brisbane in October last year, it was the Wallabies who tasted victory (albeit to end a seven-game losing streak).

And Gary Lineker was proved wrong at the recent Fifa World Cup in Russia, when the unbeatable reputation of Germany – the subject of the above famous quote – was left in tatters. So could it be time for the Wallabies to buck the trend in Sydney?

Probably not, to be honest, but it might be fun to watch. Strap yourselves in, and feel free to get in touch during the course of the game, using the details above. Thoughts on the tosh I’ve just spouted, rugby in general, or tonight’s game itself are more than welcome.